What Hurts The Most
by AnnikaMalfoy
Summary: Same story. Even better title. After sixteen years of listening to her mother's lies, Rosemarie Swan is on a mission to find the truth. The only question is, will she like what she finds?Or will it destroy her? NOT JAKEWARD, but Edward and Jacob are the two main Twilight characters in it.
1. Prolouge

**A/N: This is the beginning of my new story. I'm still not sure if I'm going to go through with it, but I thought that I should give you guys a little bit of a better idea of what it's going to be like before you decide for sure whether or not you want me to continue. I haven't gotten all the details worked out yet, but I know where I'm going to start. **

**ROSEMARIE **

_My dearest daughter, _

_There's much that I have to tell you, but not a little of time to say it all. I know this is going to be hard for you to understand, but I won't be around much longer. In fact, I'm pretty sure as you're reading this; I'm either dead or dieing. Unfortunately, for your safety, I can't explain the reasons for my sudden death. All I can say is that my lies finally caught up to me. _

_I've lied so much in the last sixteen years that it was bound to catch up to me some day and I suppose, on some level, that I deserve what I have to endure now. I've hurt so many people with those lies. People who I loved dearly. People like you, Rose. I think I've hurt you more than anyone else with my lies. For that, I'm so sorry. I know those words will never make up for these things, but it's the best I can give you for now. _

_Anyway, I need to get on with it, I'm sure they'll be coming for me soon. _

_As I said, I lied to you about pretty much everything in your life. I told you that your father abandoned me when I was pregnant with you, but that wasn't true. Your father is a great man. He's brave and kind. He was, once, my best friend and soul mate, but that was a long time ago. Long before, your conception. _

_I can't tell you too much about what happened during those couple of years. Once again, for your safety, and the safety of others that I love very much. All I can really tell you is, even though I will never regret keeping you, your conception was a mistake. _

_I know how much the truth of that hurts and I'm sorry. I just hope you remember that __**you**__ weren't the mistake. I never regretted anything involving you. I made a huge mistake when I slept with your father, though. One, which I've never forgiven myself for. _

_This is why I left him and my home in Forks sixteen years ago, because I couldn't face what I had done. I couldn't hurt your father anymore than I already had, because even your conception wouldn't have changed anything between us. My heart always belonged to another man, no matter how badly I sometimes wished it could've belonged to your father. _

_Unfortunately, because of my tangled web of lies, this is all I can tell you about what happened to me while I lived in Forks. I don't want to endanger your life by telling more. _

_Now, that the hard parts out of the way, there's some things that you need to know, in order for you to move on with your life. _

_First, I've put it in my will that, upon my death, you will become an emancipated minor. Don't freak out, because I have arranged for you to be taken care of. I can't name names or tell you why, but an old friend has agreed to put four thousand dollars a month into an account with your name on it. Don't worry it's legal. _

_Finally, I know that this bit of information is probably going to make you curious about your father and that's understandable. That's why I'm giving you one final gift. There are two pane tickets enclosed in this envelope. One for you and one for Erick. He's the only one I trust enough to go with you and protect you. _

_They are both one-way to Forks, Washington. You'll find that Grandpa Charlie's house is still there and empty. I didn't have the heart to rent it out or sell it. It belongs to you now, as does everything inside. Use it to your advantage. _

_There's an Indian Reservation, La Push, a few miles from there. When you're ready, go there and seek out Jacob Black. He'll have the answers that you're looking for. _

_I must warn you, though, Rose. Though my time in Forks was short, I left a tangled web of lies, love, pain, and even a little magic. It would be wrong of me not to ask you to find the truth behind my lies, but you must know, that you might not like what you find. _

_Once again, I'm so sorry for the pain my lies have caused you. I'm sorry that you have to suffer for those lies. I can only hope that sending you to Forks will help you understand why I had to lie. Maybe one day, you can forgive me for them._

_I love you with all of my heart and soul and hope you find the answers that you seek. _

_Love you always, _

_Mom_

I sighed and folded up the piece of paper that held my mother's final goodbyes. It was two weeks after the fire that took her life and, taking her gift to heart, I was now on a plane to Forks with my best friend, Erick Anderson.

I reread the letter over a million times since my mom's lawyer gave it, along with the plane tickets, to me at the reading of her will a few days after the funeral. You'd think, with as many times as I've read it, I would've been able to make at least a little sense of it. Or the words wouldn't shock me every time I read it. But that wasn't the case. In fact, with every reading it just got more and more confusing and angering.

I couldn't believe that she had lied to me all these years. For my entire life, I believed that my father walked out on us, because he didn't want me, but it was really Mom that walked away from him because she was ashamed for having sex with him.

I didn't understand why she felt the need to lie to me about that part. Did she think that I couldn't handle it? She mentioned danger several times. But what danger could come with me learning about where came from?

Then there was the whole thing about knowing she was going to die. What was up with that? And who was this they she mentioned who were coming for her? What her lies to me even have to do with them?

Sadly, those questions didn't even crack the surface of the mysteries that her death and the resulting letter opened up. I knew the only way to get my answers and solve these mysteries was to go back to Forks, where it apparently all started…

**A/N: I hope this gives you a better idea of things. I know it isn't much, but I didn't want to get too much into the story yet. I want to know what you guys think of this beginning before I continue. I know it's really confusing and I apologize for that, but you will get all your answers as Rosemarie gets hers. Anyway, review and let me know what you think. Are you intrigued? Or should I scrap the idea? **


	2. We're Not Okay

**A/N: You have no idea how excited I am about finally getting this chapter up. I got the idea for this story back in September but didn't know where I was going with it. I didn't even know how to start it really. I sat down last night and tonight, though, determined to put out something. After listening to the same song about 50 million times, I finally figured it out. I hope you guys think this is good so far. Let me know if there is anything, you want to see in this story and I'll try to give it to you. As long as my muses agree. **

**EDWARD**

_Dear Edward, _

_I'm sure Alice has already told you what's about to happen and why. I'm sure she had a hell of a time_

_Trying to convince you not to come after me. Or perhaps she didn't. I know you were never very good at denying me the things I wanted. _

_Unfortunately, this is the last thing that I wanna do right now. I'd much rather run into your arms and stay there for eternity, just like I've been wanting to since that first day in our meadow. Unfortunately, what we want and what we deserve don't always go hand in hand. I don't deserve the warmth and comfort of your arms anymore and probably never will again. That's why I'm doing this. You deserve so much better than me and what I've done to you. I just hope you can find it some day. _

_I know you're probably thinking that nothing I've done could make me undeserving of you. In fact, I'm sure you think that it has just evened the playing field between us. You've never been more wrong in life. I screwed up, so bad, I doubt even you would be able to forgive me. Not that I'm asking for your forgiveness, I don't deserve it. I just think that you have a right to know why I'm doing this. To make matters worse, being the coward that I am, I'm not even going to admit to this in person. Instead, I'm going to be safely on a plane as you are having your heart ripped out. I'm sorry that I have to be such a coward._

_The other night while you and the others were hunting, I decided to go to Charlie's and start going through his things. I don't know why I thought I could handle it alone. He hasn't even been gone a month yet, but I just couldn't sit at home and wait for you guys to come back. I was stupid to think I could. _

_I hadn't even been sorting through stuff for a half hour before it became too much. I lost it and knowing you wouldn't be capable of answering your phone, I called the next best person, Jacob. It was the most stupid thing I could've done that night, but I needed someone and you needed to feed. _

_He came over and took care of me. Things got a little heavy and took make a long story short, we had sex. It was the biggest mistake of my life and I will forever feel guilty for it. There was no excuse for it and I won't try to make one. It won't change things or make them any easier. All I can do is tell you how sorry I am for allowing it to happen. _

_And that's why I'm doing this. I've screwed up everything between the three of us and hurt you both beyond repair. I've probably even messed up any chances the two of you had at a friendship. All because I was selfish and stupid and couldn't let go of a stupid little crush. It is for those reasons that I don't deserve either of you. _

_I've had Charlie's lawyer draw up some divorce papers. It should be simple considering that it's been less than a month since the wedding and I don't want anything. I've already hurt you and your family too much to cause more trouble. I'll just ask that you sign the papers (I already have) and send them back and you won't ever hear from me again. _

_I'm so sorry for everything, Edward. I wish there was something I could do to make it up to you, but there's nothing. All I can say is that I hope I haven't damaged you too much and pray that you will one day be able to move on and forget about me. _

_I won't tell you where I'm going and begged Alice to do the same, because I know you will chase me and beg me to come back. You'd tell me that you didn't care what I did with Jacob and that you just wanted me yours for eternity, like we planned. The truth is I don't deserve that. Or at least, you don't. _

_You don't deserve to have your life or your family's lives destroyed by me any longer. You deserve to find someone who knows that they want you and will never waver from that. You deserve someone who won't break her vows during one moment of vulnerability. Someone who can love you, and only you, the way I did. I hope you find that someone, someday. _

_I know reading this letter is probably killing you and it is tearing me up to write it to you, but I know this is the right thing for everyone and you' and your family will be much better off without me. I'm sure once you finish this you'll jump into your Volvo and drive to my house to beg me to stay. Please, don't waste your time or gas. By the time you read this, I will be on a plane miles from Washington. _

_Please remember that I do love you, Edward, with everything in me and always will. That's why I know leaving is the best thing I can do for you right now. I've loved since the first moment I saw you and I will never forgot that day or any of the days that followed. You will always have a special place in my heart. _

_Love always, _

_Bella _

I folded up the letter with a sigh and tucked it in my breast pocket as I sank deeper into the airplane seat. This was going to be a long and difficult flight.

I didn't know why I bothered pulling out the letter anymore. I knew it by heart and it wasn't just because I had a photographic memory. I had pulled out the letter that ripped my heart out, and read it every day for the last sixteen years.

I could still remember the first time I read it sixteen years ago. As I began piecing together, the meanings of the words that I read, a felt numbness begin to sink in. It was a feeling that I hadn't gotten since the day I met Bella.

I signed the divorce papers, like she asked, while I was still to numb to think clearly. I gave them to Carlisle then and left, before I could change my mind.

The numbness didn't last long. I ended up adding an acre or so to my beautiful meadow by demolishing a couple hundred trees an hour or so after, I read the letter. Interestingly enough, I was most angry with myself I knew this was all my fault. If I hadn't left after her eighteenth birthday, she and Jacob would've never gotten that close.

I couldn't even make myself be angry with Jacob. In fact, I met him at Charlie's house later that night and apologized for everything. He, in turn, apologized for the affair.

The anger was replaced by an immense sadness that never went away, even after sixteen years. Carlisle and I talked about it as much as we could, but that didn't help much. In fact, sometimes, I thought it made things worse.

I was pulled out of my thoughts of the past by a familiar giggle. I immediately looked up looked up to see a girl reaching into the compartment above her seat. She had a tan complexion and straight jet-black hair that fell to her waist and was held out of her face with a pair of sunglasses. She looked to be a little over five feet tall and weighed maybe 120 pounds. She was wearing a pink camisole with a pair of cut off shorts and purple flip-flops. I wondered briefly if she knew what was waiting for her in Washington.

I sighed in disappointment as I looked back down at my hands. I couldn't believe that I actually thought it was my Bella. She had been dead for nearly two weeks.

"Hey, are you alright?" Alice asked nudging my shoulder. I gave her a what-the-hell-do-you-think look. "What?" she asked raising her hands. "I know you're obviously not okay, but you looked like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm fine." I told her shaking my head. "It just hasn't sunk in, yet, that's all. I wanna keep thinking that she's just saying goodbye to her mom and will be joining us soon."

"I'm sorry." she answered placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I should've done more to save her. I should've told you guys what I knew from the beginning. Maybe, if I had we could've stopped this." She shook her head and put into in her hands.

"Alice, don't." I told her patting her back. "You know as well as I do that the only way the Volturi would've spared her was if she was a vampire. And she no longer wanted that, not after everything that happened. We did what we could after her last phone call and your vision. We just didn't get there in time."

"I know." she replied lifting her head. "I just wish that I could've gotten us there sooner or something."

"You can't do that to yourself, love." Jasper said coming to sit beside her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. I didn't know where he had been. God, I had been way too out of it since we arrived in Jacksonville. "Bella made her choices and that's what all this comes down to. None of us could've changed her mind or saved her from this."

"I know, but I just feel like I missed something really important over the years. It feels like there is something that I still need to save." Alice growled in frustration.

Her growl was followed by a loud crash and someone yelled,

"Damn it!"

I looked up to see the girl with the long black hair had fallen onto her butt and the contents of her carry on were now rolling all around her.

"Rose!" A friend, I assumed, jumped up from his seat and started helping her collect her things. "Are you alright?"

He had a build similar to Emmett's with bleach blonde hair and a very kind smile. He too was wearing a tank top and shorts. Did these people have any idea where they were going?

"I'm fine." The girl, Rose, said shaking her head. "You know me, the klutz." She let out another familiar giggle as she helped her friend collect her things.

"Let me." her friend said and finished picking things up. "Just breathe and relax. I promise everything will be okay."

I didn't really understand what that was about and didn't really care, so as the flight attendant announced our departure, I tuned out the rest of their conversation. I'd soon find out that their problems were about to become my own.

**ROSEMARIE**

We landed in Seattle at eight o'clock in the morning and it was raining. This didn't surprise me. My mom had always told me that she couldn't stand the wet weather in Washington. Thankfully, she had been able to give me that little bit of information, so I was prepared with a sweater and a raincoat.

Erick was prepared for even more than the weather. He had used his father's credit card to call a rent-a-car company and have a car delivered to the airport. Ever the gentleman, he ventured into the parking lot to get the car, while I waited inside the airport for him to pick me up at the door.

It was a couple hours drive to Forks, longer if you considered the weather. It was a drive that I hadn't been looking forward to. I hated the idea of having to spend more time thinking about the letter from my mom and the possibility of finding out the truth about my father. There were so many ways this adventure could go wrong.

It didn't help that, as we drove, my mom's words kept echoing in my head. She had said that I might not like what I found. What did that mean? Of everything, those words bothered me the most. What could she have done back then that she was so ashamed of? Did she think that I would think less of her as a mother if I found these things out? Surely, she knew, that could never happen. I was angry with her, of course. For lying to me about my father, who wouldn't be, but I could never think any less of her. She had always been the best mother a daughter could ask for.

I stared through the windshield trying not to think about things too much. I didn't want to scare myself out of this. It was hard, though, not to consider how much easier things would be if I just pretended that, I had never read the letter.

Things were hard enough after my mom's death. I didn't need the added stress of this whole search for the truth.

"How are you holding up?" Erick asked after about fifteen minutes.

I shrugged, but didn't answer.

"You can talk to me, you know?" Erick continued, not taking his eyes of the road. "I am your best friend, after all."

"I know, Erick." I said. "There's just so much going on in my head and heart that I don't even know where to start. I'm so confused about everything. My emotions are all over the place. I'm angry with her about everything, but I feel so guilty for being angry. I mean, she's dead. I shouldn't be angry. I should be sad. I should be remembering fond times I've had with her, not thinking about all the ways she lied to me."

I hadn't meant to say all of that. I didn't even realize that how I was feeling until I actually said it. It was one of those things that I really loved about Erick. He could always make me admit to feeling the things that I didn't realize I was feeling. He didn't even have to try.

Erick took one hand off the steering wheel and wrapped it around mine. He interlaced our fingers and began rubbing circles into the back on my hand with his thumb. Unfortunately, it was the most comforting gesture that he could perform while driving.

"Rose, you have to know that it is okay for you to be angry with her. She lied to you for your entire life. She made you think that your father didn't care about you. Now she's gone and you're left to try to piece together those lies. It wasn't fair of her to leave with that burden. It wasn't right of her to lie to you for sixteen years."

"You're right, it wasn't." I answered trying not to sound too annoyed. He was only trying to help. It wasn't his fault that he didn't understand just how complicated things were now. "But this one lie, no matter how big, doesn't erase everything else in the last sixteen years. She has loved and cared for me since the day I was born. She gave me food and a place to live. She worked so hard to make sure that I had everything that I wanted and needed. She was always there for me, no matter what. She taught me how to be the person that I am today and encouraged me to be the best person I could be. She was my best friend in the whole world, Erick. She was the only person in this world, other than you, who knew me better than anyone. I can't let this one thing stop me from remembering that."

"Then don't." Erick answered with a quick smile in my direction. "You can be angry because she left you with this, but that doesn't mean that you have to stop loving her or forget about the good times. Yes, she was your mother and yes, she loved and cared, but she still lied to you, Rose. She left you to unravel that lie with nothing more than a name and a location. And it is okay for you to be angry about that. I know she wouldn't begrudge you that."

"I know." I replied with a sigh.

His words made a great deal of sense to me, even if I wasn't ready to accept them. A lot of people do resent their deceased parents for certain things, but that doesn't mean they don't love them. It just means their parents made mistakes. Which is something that everyone does. My mom made a mistake, maybe many. Who knew? I just wished her mistakes didn't leave me with a letter that leads me into the unknown.

I fell silent again, still contemplating the letter and everything it implied. I still hadn't ruled out turning around and going home. It seemed like the smartest and safest option.

"I know that look." Erick said after another five minutes. "You can't make up your mind about something."

"You know me too well." I said with a small smile at him.

"Well, I've been your best friend since day care. I should have you down to a science by now."

I let out a little giggle, glad we could find a little humor in such a complicated situation.

"So spill." he pressed.

"I'm just not sure this is something I want to do." I answered, knowing he wouldn't let it go. "There is a huge part of me that is scared to death about what we're gonna find. Mom said that I might not like it. I don't even know what that means. What if it turns out that this guy really didn't want me? Or something far worse? I mean, I don't even know anything about my mom's life in Forks. I could be stumbling into something far too dangerous for me. I mean, my mom seemed to think people were coming to kill her because she knew too much, what if I find out too much and they come for me too.

"That part of me wants to turn this car around, go back to Jacksonville, and stay with you until I can get on my feet again. I want to go back to my life, the way it was before my mom died and left me this cryptic bullshit." I shook the letter that was now fisted in my hand. "I want to rip this letter to pieces and move on with my life. I want to forget that I ever saw the words and just let sleeping dogs lie."

Erick sighed and pulled the car over. He put it in park and turned to face me with a kind smile on his face.

"And if that's what you want, then we'll do it. You know you are more than welcome to stay with my family for as long as it takes. Hell, my father would probably let you stay forever if you wanted to. We could spend the summer chilling by the pool and just hanging out. Then go back to school in September, see our old friends, and pretend like nothing happened. I can help you deal with your mother's death and move on from it. You could go on like nothing has ever happened and enjoy a life of blissful ignorance. I will drive back to the airport this second, if that is what you want.

"However, going back to Jacksonville and moving on like you didn't read the letter, won't change the fact that you did. You will always have the knowledge that your mother lied to you about your father. You will always know that you had the chance to find out the truth, but gave it up. A part of your mind will always wonder what if I had continued on that journey and not ran from it. You will have to imagine what your future could've been like if you had pursued this instead of walking away from it. It could be your only chance to find the truth. Do you really wanna give that up?"

I sighed and looked down at my twisting hands. He had a good point. I couldn't just pretend like I never read the letter, because I had and there was no going back from there. The only thing that I could do was move forward with this journey and pray that my fears were in vain.

"You're right." I said looking back to his smiling face. "Let's go to Forks and just hope for the best."

"That's my girl." he said and kissed my hand before putting the car in drive and pulling back into the road.

Unfortunately, the rain was so bad by then that Erick couldn't be distracted by talk, so I was left to my own thoughts. Thankfully, the exhaustion and jet lag had started catching up with me and I soon found myself asleep.

**JACOB**

_Dear Jacob, _

_There are so many things that I want to say to you, but I don't know where to start. First, I am so sorry for everything that I've put you through in the time that we've known each other. It really wasn't fair of me to drag you around like that after I made it clear that I didn't love you the way I loved Edward. Unfortunately, the part of my heart that wanted you more than anything else always got the better of me. I wanted you in my life, regardless of the consequences for either of us. I should have known nothing good would come of it. _

_Of all the things I've done, though, I'm most sorry for what happened between us the other night. It was the biggest mistake of my life and I will forever feel guilty for it. There was no excuse for what happened and I won't try to make one. It won't change things or make them any easier. All I can do is tell you how sorry I am for allowing it to happen. It wasn't right of me, especially since I'm a married woman. At least, I was the other night. _

_I guess that's the real reason why I'm writing this to you. I've made a mess of my relationship with you and Edward. I've done things to both of you that are unforgivable and honestly, I don't deserve either of you. This is why I'm asking Edward for a divorce and moving away from Forks. _

_I won't tell you where I'm going, because I know you will chase me and beg me to come back. You'd tell me that you didn't care what happened between us and that you just wanted me to be in your life. The truth is I don't even deserve that. Or at least, you don't. _

_You don't deserve to have your life dragged down by me any longer. You deserve the chance to move on and fall in love with someone who loves the way I couldn't. You deserve someone who will love unconditionally and give you a big and happy family. Someone who won't lead you on and keep breaking your heart the way I do. Someone who will see how wonderful and beautiful you are, even when you it is hard to see. _

_I know reading this letter is probably killing you and it is tearing me up to write it to you, but I know this is the right thing for everyone and you'll be much better off without me. I'm sure once you finish this you'll jump into your rabbit and drive to my house to beg me to stay. Please, don't waste your time or gas. By the time you read this, I will be on a plane miles from Washington. _

_Please remember that I do love you, Jake and always will. That's why I know leaving is the best thing I can do for you right now. You've been my best friend since those horrible months of Edward's absence and I will never forget that. You will always have a special place in my heart. _

_Love always, _

_Bella _

I folded up the note that I had read every morning for the last sixteen years with a heavy sigh. I didn't even know why I bothered to keep it anymore. I could recite the whole thing by heart if I wanted to. Still, it didn't seem right to throw it away.

I tucked it back in my nightstand drawer and crawled out of bed, preparing to start my day. I tiptoed to the bathroom. Once again, I didn't know why. Billy had been gone for nearly five years, so there was no one in the house to worry about waking up. I guess old habits really do die-hard.

When I reached the bathroom, I opened the medicine cabinet, without looking in the mirror. I didn't want to see how horrible I probably looked. I didn't want to be reminded of what Bella's loss had done to me. God knew I got enough of that from the packs worried thoughts. I sighed and pulled out the bottle of anti-depressants and popped one into my mouth. I swallowed it dry.

I had been on the pills since about two years after Bella left Forks. Sam had walked in on me attempting to see if I could but a bullet through my head and sent me to a therapist straight away. I refused to talk to the person. How could I tell him what's bothering me if I can't tell him the whole truth? Instead, Sam talked Dr. Fang into using his influence to get me some anti-depressants without regular doctor visits. Unfortunately, that means Dr. Fang has to visit every six months so he and I can talk and make sure the pills are working.

After taking my pill, I took a quick shower and got dressed. I was in the middle of breakfast when the phone rang. Sixteen years ago, I would've run to the phone praying it was Bella. Now, I have accepted the fact that she was never going to call or be coming back. Still, I picked up the phone thinking it was probably Sam checking in as usual.

"Hello?" I said in a dead tone.

"Hey Jake, its Sam." I sighed, because I knew what was coming.

"Hi, Sam." I said in a false cheery voice. "I'm fine and have been all night. No, I haven't thought about hurting myself in days and yes, I took my pill this morning. I think that about covers things."

I was about to hang up the phone when he spoke.

"Give me a break, Jacob." he said with his own sigh. "You'd feel the same way if you walked in on one of your brothers trying to kill themselves."

"It's been fourteen years, Sam." I growled.

"Yeah and you're clearly not over it." Sam replied.

"I'm not a baby." I told him.

"You're right, Jacob, you're not, but Bella's leaving has clearly messed you up a lot. It's been sixteen years and you're still having a hard time. You're my brother and I don't wanna lose, none of the pack does. That's why I do this."

"Whatever." I told him, not sure why I was so angry this morning. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes." Sam replied. I noted the subtle change in his tone. He seemed more sad than annoyed at the moment. "Carlisle called this morning."

Fourteen years ago, that phrase would've caused me to get angry and annoyed. Carlisle was constantly calling Sam and notifying him about how our sessions went. If I didn't treat them, the way Sam felt I should, he'd ream me out. Now though, it worried me.

I had let all the barriers between myself and the good doctor down about two years after I tried to kill myself. That was around when I realized that talking was the only thing that would make what Bella did any better. We'd made tons of progress in the years that followed and I could hardly wait in between sessions. They had honestly become like air to me.

If he wasn't calling to inform Sam of how uncooperative that I've been, then why was he calling? Had something happened to one of them? I knew they hadn't been planning to come back to Forks. It was way too early for that. Many of the people they were in High School with had children attending Forks High School. Things would be way too dangerous.

"What did he want?" I asked trying to sound more confused than worried.

"He's says they have something important to tell us." Sam answered. "Something, he seems to believe would be better accepted in person."

"What the hell does that mean?" I asked.

"I don't know, but judging by his tone, it isn't very good." Sam answered. "Carlisle says they're plane from Jacksonville just landed in Seattle and they should be here in a couple of hours."

"Jacksonville?" I questioned even more confused. "What the hell were they doing in Jacksonville? Exposing themselves?"

"I don't know." Sam sighed. "Carlisle said that he'd explain everything once they arrived. He wants us to meet them in the place where we fought the newborns around eleven."

"I'll be there." I told him with a sigh. "Have you called the others?"

"Not yet." Sam sighed. "I figured my second should be the first to know."

I couldn't help but smile at that. Throughout everything, Sam never lost faith in my ability to help lead this pack. He never took away my authority or tried to second-guess my decisions when it came to the pack. He always believed that I'd put the pack before everything, even my own feelings. Which, other than that one time, was something that I always did. I would forever be grateful that his confidence in me never wavered.

"Thank you." I told him. "I'll get dressed and call the others. We'll meet you around ten."

I clicked the phone shut without saying goodbye. I suddenly had the worst feeling that whatever Carlisle had to say was going to shatter what was left of my already mutilated heart.

**A/N: It feels so good to finally have put something out after all these months. I haven't written a word since I finished Cages or Wings? in November. Therefore, you can imagine how I feel to have something to give you guys finally. **

**I know you guys might be confused, especially about Edward's part, but I promise what happened with Bella and why the Cullens were in Jacksonville will be explained when the Cullens speak with the pack later. **

**And I just have one small note. Erick and Rosemarie are not and never will be a couple. They are simply best friends and have been since day care. They don't think of each other as anything more than siblings. Besides, I have other romance plans for the two of them. **

**Please, review and tell me how you feel about the beginning of this. **


	3. Revelations

**A/N: So I was really surprised by the response that I received from the second chapter of this story. I thought, for sure, that someone was going to flame me for the who affair thing, but no one has so far. I hope I can consider that a good omen for the rest of the story. **

**I'm sorry it's been almost two weeks between chapters. I've been blocked since November and am still trying to come back from it.**

**Anyway, nothing really to say about this chapter, just that it is a bit of a tearjerker. **

**JACOB**

It took a good majority of the two hours between Sam's phone call and meeting the Cullens for me to finish breakfast, change into some phasing appropriate clothing and get the rest of the pack together. Most of them were with the objects of their imprints and didn't answer my calls. I had to go and retrieve them personally. Normally, that would've annoyed me a great deal. We had a job to do. Our personal lives, including, our imprints came second to that. Today though, I took it as a blessing.

I figured the more time I had to spend trying to get the others ready for this meeting, the less time I had to think about what the Cullens were going to tell us. I had the worst feeling that it was something horrible and if I concentrated too hard on it, I would end up making myself an emotional mess. There was no point in doing that until I found out exactly what was going on.

When we finally reached the meadow where we fought the newborns, the Cullens, all seven of them, were waiting for us. My heart broke the second I saw their sad and angry expressions. I had been right; this wasn't going to be good at all.

Even after everything, we had gone through with Bella, Seth, Sam and I were the only ones that felt safe enough to be in human form in front of them. We were leading the pack into the clearing, the rest were in wolf form behind us. Jared, Paul, Leah, Embry and Quil were in the front row. They didn't want to get too far away from us, just in case something happened.

"Dr. Cullen," I held out my hand when we were only a few short feet apart. "It's good to see you again. I'd ask how you are, but I'm guessing the answer would be pretty damn shitty."

He smiled, but the it didn't reach his eyes, as he shook my hand. He nodded to Seth and Sam as we dropped hands. Both smiled nervously in return. The others let out small growls and howls of greeting. Carlisle smiled and nodded at them all. The rest of the family didn't look like they were up for any formalities, so I didn't even try.

"It's nice to see you again as well, Jacob." Carlisle said. "And you're right, the family and myself aren't doing very well at all right now. We have some really bad news."

"We figured that was the case." I said with a sigh. "I was hoping we were wrong. So what's going on?"

"As you know, the family just returned from Jacksonville, where we've spent the last two weeks." Carlisle answered. "They were two very long and difficult weeks for all of us." He paused for a moment, as if his next words caused him great physical pain. "Bella's dead." He said the words like a father admitting the death of a beloved daughter. The look of sheer pain and anger on his face was enough to make me believe that he'd be in tears if he was capable of crying.

I couldn't believe the words I had just heard though. There had to be some kind of a mistake. Bella couldn't be dead. She just couldn't. She was barely forty and had no major health issues. She had no enemies or anything that would threaten her life. As far as I knew, there hadn't been any natural disasters in Florida.

I looked to Edward, praying that he would tell me that this was all just a bad joke. I was actually thinking Bella was going to pop out of the trees any second, laughing, because she fooled us.

"It's true, Jacob." Edward said confirming it.

His voice didn't sound anything like normal. It sounded dead, like there was nothing left worth saying. The way his body was slumped over and the dead look on his agonized face said the same thing. He was dead, emotionally now.

It was the look on his face and the sound of his voice that brought everything crashing down around me. The girl that had been the center of my universe since the day she drove over with those motorcycles was dead. That was a million times worse than gone. At least when she was gone, there was hope that she was going to come back. Now, there was no hope for that at all.

I felt the anger start to make its way down my spine and had to take a few breaths to get it under control. My body started trembling and I fought to hold on to my sanity and human form.

I took a couple of deep breaths and waited for this wave of anger to pass. I suddenly felt waves of calm sadness invading my body. I looked up to see Jasper, with his arm around Alice, concentrating on me. I gave him a grateful smile to which he nodded.

"How and when?" I finally managed to ask when I got myself under control.

"Alice," Carlisle said in a strained voice. "I know this is going to be hard for you and I wish I didn't have to ask, but you are the best person to explain everything."

"I know, Carlisle." Alice responded as she and Jasper stepped forward. He seemed reluctant to let her go. "And it's okay. I can do this."

"Yes, love, you can." Jasper whispered in her ear and kissed her gently on top of her head.

She took a deep breath and addressed the pack.

"I have been in regular contact with Bella and have known that she was in Jacksonville since she left Forks." she said.

Her words made my anger rise again. I couldn't believe that she had known where Bella was all of these years. That she had been talking to her for all these years, even. And she didn't tell us. Did she not think the rest of us would want updates? The wolf pack, especially me, had been waiting for any kind of news on Bella's whereabouts since the day she left. Why hadn't Alice told us, especially since I was positive she shared every bit of information with her family?

"Relax, Jacob." Edward said. He must've been extremely broken up. I mean, he hadn't even insulted me for my thoughts. "She didn't tell any of us anything. She even managed to hide the fact that she was still in contact with Bella from even me. Besides, she had her reasons for keeping quiet."

"Thank you, Edward." Alice said. "He's right. I did have my reasons and they were as simple as Bella not wishing me to tell any of you. After everything that happened between the three of you, I wanted to respect those wishes. Besides, she was my best friend before anything else and I would never betray my best friend like that. I'm not looking for approval for that decision, though. I'm simply telling the story."

"Go on." I said still angry about being in the dark all these years, but understanding why she didn't tell us. I would've done the same thing if it were Quil or Embry.

"She stayed with her mom for a couple of years and went to a community college." Alice continued. "Once she graduated, she got a job as a secretary at a legal firm and bought a small house of her own in Jacksonville. Like I said, we talked regularly over the years. She kept me updated on everything from dates, which were few a far between, to what was going on with her mom and Phil and what was happening at work. It sounded like she was doing very well for herself.

"She was still my best friend, though, and I knew her better than anyone else. So I could tell that she wasn't being completely honest about everything. I didn't ask questions, though. I knew she had her secrets for a reason and I didn't want to push. I didn't want to lose my best friend any more than I already had."

As she went on with the story, I found that I wasn't as angry about the secret phone calls as I had been in the beginning. At least, Bella had someone to remind her that her families in Forks still loved her very much. I couldn't imagine Alice not telling Bella that every chance she got.

"I received my last phone call from Bella almost three weeks ago." Alice continued after a short pause. "She tried to sound normal, but I could hear the sadness and fear underneath her attempts. I asked her if everything was all right and she said that it was and I didn't press the issue.

"The conversation was normal at first, but then she started saying things that sounded like goodbye and that worried me again. I questioned her health and safety again and she insisted everything was fine. I didn't believe her, but let her keep talking. I thought, maybe it would help me figure out what was going on.

"At the end of the conversation, she told me that she had opened a account in her name and asked me to start depositing four thousand dollars a month into the account. The request really freaked me out, but she wouldn't tell me what it was for. She just begged me to do it. I said yes, because it was Bella asking. We had the money and I knew my family wouldn't mind. She gave me the account information, but refused to tell me anything. We hang up shortly after."

She stopped as if she was giving us time to let everything sink in.

"Please don't tell me that you left it like that?" I asked.

"Of course not." Alice answered. "I came clean to Carlisle about it all and asked him what we should do. He wanted to respect Bella's wishes to be left alone, but didn't want anything bad to happen to her, so he told me to keep an eye on the future and we'd move if I saw anything bad."

"And you did?" I confirmed.

"Yes." she answered solemnly. "Three days later, I had a vision of Bella's house burning to the ground with a few members of the Volturi guard watching in the shadows with smirks on there faces."

She bit her lip and shook her head looking at the ground. Jasper pulled her close and whispered something in her ear. I probably could've made it out, if I had been listening. Instead, I was puzzling over the name Volturi. I had heard it somewhere years ago, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"The Volturi were the vampires I asked to kill me when I thought Bella was dead." Edward answered in the same dead tone he had been using the whole time. "They are like our government. They make and enforce the rules."

His explanation brought back the memory of that horrible night when Bella got on a plane and I didn't know if I'd ever see her again. I remembered arguing with Alice that night about taking Bella to be slaughtered by them and her horrible description of them. The memory sent a shudder down my spine.

"I don't understand." Sam stated. "If these people govern the vampires, then what would they want with Bella? Why would they want her dead?"

Edward sighed and came to stand beside Carlisle, Alice and Jasper.

"Because she was a human who knew about vampires." he answered. "She should've been killed the day she came to save me. Everyone in that room wanted a taste of their blood and Aro was prepared to give it to them. However, Alice saved her by promising that we would change her. Those were the only choices. Either way, they'd be rid of the liability."

"As you know, Bella becoming one of us didn't happen." Carlisle picked things up. "As much as I hate to say it, the Volturi were well within there rights to kill her."

"After Alice's vision, we got on the first plane to Jacksonville." Esme said, joining the others. I imagine her motherly side could see what a toll this was taking on her family. She would, of course, want to make it easier for them. "We arrived too late, though. There was barely anything left of the house. From the smell of it, the fire had been out for twenty four hours."

She finished the story and buried her head in Carlisle's shoulder. Carlisle wrapped his arms around her with a sigh. I heard my fellow pack members let out howls of grief as my knees started to shake beneath me. I couldn't believe this. Bella was dead and it had, in some part, been my fault. If I hadn't slept with her, then she would've never left and everything would be fine.

"Is there anything else we need to know?" Sam asked.

"Yes, but it can wait." Carlisle answered. "You need to take care of Jacob right now. Give it some time to sink in and will meet again in a few days. I am truly sorry. I know she meant as much to the pack as she did to us."

"Thank you." Sam responded. "And we wish to convey the same sentiment."

"We appreciate it." Carlisle answered. "Jacob, if you wish to talk, you have my number."

"Right." I nodded.

As the Cullens faded into the trees, my knees gave out and I dropped to the ground with a scream of anguish. I let everything go then, not caring who saw or heard me.

**ROSEMARIE**

_I sat on the wicker bench in the enclosed porch of my house. It was one of the few stormy days that occurred in Jacksonville and I was curled up on the bench in my sweats reading one of my favorite books of all time: The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion. Sure, it was nearly two decades old, but I enjoyed how it portrayed vampires as more than just nasty bloodsucking monsters. The Vampire Diaries series made me believe, if vampires existed, some might actually have a soul. Besides, I was more into the romantic type vampires. Anne Rice could keep her bloodsucking demons. _

_I didn't know how long I sat there reading before I looked up to see four people walking; no gliding was the better word for it up our front walk. They were all wearing black cloaks with their hoods drawn, but the rain didn't seem to bother them at all. _

_There were two short ones and two tall ones. The short ones didn't look like they were much older than thirteen, but were in the front of the formation. I got the feeling they were the dominate of the four, but I didn't take too much time to think about it. _

_The sight of them had made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I got this awful feeling that whatever they were here for wasn't good at all. I immediately stood up and retreated back into the house. _

_Mom was in the kitchen getting things ready for dinner, so that was where I headed. She was standing at the counter chopping onions and humming to herself. _

"_Mom, there are four people at the door." I said. "I don't know what they want, but I have a really bad feeling about them." _

_Something about the tone of my voice and the fear on my face made her freeze. She stared at me for a moment and I thought I saw tears threatening to fall from her eyes. The look lasted less than a second, before she composed herself and grabbed the car keys off the counter. _

"_It's okay, sweetie." she said trying to sound like nothing was wrong. "I'll take care of it." We started walking back towards the door. "In the meantime, do you think you could run to the store for me? I need some milk for the macaroni and cheese" _

"_Sure." I replied taking the keys. I knew that she didn't really need the milk. She had just bought three gallons of it two days ago. I did, however, know when she didn't want me to hear a conversation. _

_We reached the door and the four figures were standing there waiting patiently four us. Mom took a deep breath and plastered a fake smile on her face. _

"_Jane, Alec, Felix, Dimitri, how lovely to see you all again." she said. If I didn't know her better than anyone else in the world, I would've believed the false cheeriness. As it was, I heard every bit of the fear she was trying to hide. "Please, come in." She gestured toward the living room, but kept herself between me and them. "Lizzie was just leaving." _

_She shuffled me out the door before I could question her odd behavior. I climbed into the 2006 Grand Prix that mom and I shared trying to figure out what was going on. Who were those people? Why was my mom so afraid of them? Why didn't she want me to know what was going on? _

_I sighed and started to pull out of the driveway. As I did, the scene around me faded and began to reform. _

_When everything settled again, I was sitting in the passenger seat of Erick's Porsche. We had just seen a really horrible remake of the eighties flick: The Breakfast Club. It had been one of my favorite movies of all time. This new version was the biggest disappointment of my life. _

_Erick agreed with me and we had just spent most of the drive discussing the horribleness of this new movie. As we turned down my street, I noticed ambulances and cop cars parked in front of the place where my house should have been. Instead, there was only a smoldering pile of wood and rubble. _

_My heart started pounding as I frantically searched the crowd of police officers, fire fighters, and on lookers for my mom. Erick had barely pulled up to the curb before I was out of the car and running towards what was left of my house. _

_Strong arms caught me before I reached the smoldering remains. _

"_Whoa, sweetheart." a strange voice said. "I can't let you any closer. It's too dangerous." _

"_But that's my house." I nearly yelled struggling to get free of him. "And my mom was in there. I have to find my mom." _

_I heard the man sigh and ask for someone to come help him. The tone of his voice told me all I needed to know. My mom hadn't made it out. My knees buckled from underneath me as I felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest. _

_I hit the ground hard on my hands and knees as I tried to force myself to sob. I didn't understand why it wasn't working. Why couldn't I cry or even breathe? _

"_Shhh, baby." I barely heard Erick whisper as he wrapped his arms around me. "It's gonna be okay." _

"_She's dead, Erick. Nothing will ever be okay, again." I managed to choke out before the sobs finally made there way out of my throat._

_The world started to fade away and I thought that I was going to pass out, like I had that night, only I didn't. Instead, I found myself in a dark room surrounded by the four figures from that afternoon two weeks ago. _

_The littlest one, Jane, I think my mom called her was staring at me with a twisted smile on her face. I tried to meet her stare to let her know that I wasn't afraid of her, but I was suddenly hit by the worst pain I have every felt in my life. I had never been tortured before, but I imagine, if I had been, it wouldn't feel half as terrible as this. I hit the ground hard screaming and begging for it to stop. _

_I could tell by the sound of a laughing little girl that Jane was doing this to me. I barely registered when it stopped and my world faded to black. _

"Rose, wake up! It's just a dream." I woke up to Erick saying and shaking me frantically.

My eyes snapped open and immediately connected with his. They were full of concern, relief, and maybe a little bit of fear. He stopped shaking me the second he realized that I was back with him.

"Are you okay?" he asked pulling me into a gentle hug. "You really scared me there."

"I'm alright." I said into his chest trying to calm myself. "It was just a bad dream."

"Was it that night again?" Erick asked, knowing the night of the fire haunted me when I was asleep.

"Yes, but there was more this time." I told him.

"Tell me about it." he said pulling me away from him. "Talking about it might help."

I was about to tell him all about the dream and the sudden connection that my self-conscious had made, but I noticed for the first time that I was now sitting in a very comfortable double bed. My legs were in a tangle of purple sheets and blankets. That was weird. Hadn't I fallen asleep in the car? How did I get into a bed? And whose bed was it for that matter?

"I will tell you all about it, as soon as you tell me where we are?" I answered taking in the rest of the room.

It was a decent sized space. It wasn't huge, but it was definitely bigger than my room in Jacksonville. There was a large bay window on the side. Rain was currently pounding on the pane. I guess mom wasn't kidding when she said it rained a lot in Washington.

There was a small desk in the corner with an ancient computer on top. It looked like it hadn't been used in years and was covered in a thick layer of dust. On the other side of the room, there was a dresser. Most of the knick-knacks and things had been cleared from the top of it, but it too was covered in a thick layer of dust. In the other corner next to the bed was a big, beautiful gilded frame mirror. It was so dusty, though, that I could barely see myself in it.

The dust around the room got my worried about what kind of nasty mess I was currently sleeping in. I quickly started kicking the covers off myself and tried to climb out of it. Erick laughed and reached out to stop me.

"Relax, Rosie." he said. "When you said that we were going to your grandpa's old house in Forks, I figured it wouldn't be in the best living conditions, so I packed some extra sheets. I laid you on the couch while I changed the bedding before bringing you up here."

"So does that mean this is it?" I asked. "My mom's old house."

"The one and only." Erick answered with a shrug. "I was going to wake you up when we got here, but since you haven't been sleeping well lately, I decided to let you sleep. You didn't miss much. Downstairs is as nasty as up here."

"That's to be expected." I sighed. "I mean, mom did say that no one has lived here since she left Forks. At least, I'll have something to keep my mind of things for awhile."

"That's right, my little neat freak." Erick laughed. I chuckled a little too.

I hated that he made fun of my obsession with cleaning, but it was nice to have something familiar right now. We laughed ourselves into silence and I took another look around the room.

Now that I knew this was my grandfather's house, it was pretty clear that this had been my mother's room. I had been anticipating this moment since we left Jacksonville. I had always wondered about my mom's life in Forks. She very rarely spoke of it and when she did, it was about the weather or something about grandpa. Now that I was here, though, I wasn't sure how I felt.

It was hard to be in this room. Hard to imagine that my mom had sat at the desk or slept in the bed. Hard to believe that she did homework and maybe snuck a boyfriend or two in from time to time. I wish she would've been here to tell me all about those things. Instead, I had to imagine it all. I didn't want to have to imagine it.

On the other hand, I felt closer to her, now that I knew this was her room. I felt like she had left a part of her here for me to find. Sure, it would be hard, but maybe I'd feel better when I finally found it. I suppose being in here could help me find closure.

Tears welled in my eyes as I thought of having to go through this journey alone. I wished she was here to help me.

"I hope this is okay." Erick said, noticing the tears in my eyes. "I wasn't sure if you would want to be in here or your grandfather's room."

"This is perfect." I smiled. "It's to be in here, but I like it. It makes me feel like she's here somewhere, watching me. Waiting to send me in the right direction."

"I bet she is." he smiled.

"Maybe." I sighed as my stomach let out a huge growl. "Wow, I didn't realize how hungry I was. I don't suppose there's anything edible downstairs?"

"Nope." Erick answered with a smile. "Never fear, though, I ordered us a pizza. The guy seemed pretty surprised to be delivering to this address. I told him that we had just bought the house. I figured that would be the best story to tell everyone until we figure everything else out." I nodded. "He said the pizza would be here in a half hour and that was just before you started getting restless. So it gives us about fifteen minutes to talk about this dream of yours."

He settled himself so he was sitting next to me on the bed with his back against the wall. Good old Erick. Not easily distracted when I needed to talk about something.

"You said it was the usual dream about the house burning down, but there was more."

"Yes." I sighed. "This time it actually picked up the day my mom had those strange visitors."

"The ones that she was scared of." Erick clarified.

"Yeah." I confirmed. "I knew that day there was something wrong. You know my mom, she wasn't afraid of anything. These guys, though, they terrified her. She tried like hell to hide it from me and them, but I could tell. Then she sent me to go get milk when we had plenty of it in the fridge and she didn't give them my real name. It worried me, at first, but when I came home and mom was still there and in one piece, I didn't think on it anymore. In fact, I had forgotten about it, until the dream."

"Do you think it was trying to tell you something?" Erick asked.

"I don't know." I answered. "In the dream, that day faded into the night of the fire, so maybe. Mom did say that she someone was coming after her. Maybe she was talking about the four visitors. It's too coincidental that the fire would happen less than two weeks after their visit."

"We can't be completely sure about it, though." Erick said. "For all we know, the fire could've really been an accident that kept these strangers from doing whatever they were going to do."

"Or they could've caused it." I said simply. "God, if only she would've let me stay that day. I would be able to figure this out." I grabbed my hair in frustration.

"It's gonna be okay, Rose." he said pulling my hands out of my hair gently.

"There's more, though." I said remembering the last part of my dream. "Whoever they are and whatever they want, I don't think they're human and I don't think they're finished with me."

"What makes you say that?" Erick asked looking at me curiously.

"The dream ended with me alone in a room with the four strangers." I told him. "I was on the ground being tortured by something that I couldn't see. The one called Jane had a sadistic smile on her face. The smile made me sure that she was doing it to me. I don't know how, but it was her. I know it was."

"So you think they are after you too?" he asked pulling me into his arms.

"Yes, no. I don't know." I said trying to relax into his embrace. "I just know that I'm scared."

I started sobbing then. Erick pulled me closer and kissed my forehead.

"It's okay, sweetie. I promise, we'll figure this out together and I won't let anything bad happen to you. I'll die before I let that happen."

**A/N: What do you guys think? I'm still a little shaky, but I'm working on it. My muses have helped me advance the plot a little, but that won't happen for a couple of chapters. Please, leave me a review and let me know what you think. **


	4. Cry

**A/N: So I was really saddened by the lack of response to the last chapter. Did it not live up to your guys' expectations? If there was something that you didn't like, feel free to tell me. I can't promise that I will change it, but I will give it due consideration and see what happens. I really do wanna know what you guys have to say, especially now. I'm worried that I've lost my touch. I hope that's not the case. **

**Before I start this chapter, I want to make one minor change. I mentioned in chapter two that Charlie's house was a disgusting dusty mess and is barely habitable. I'm going to change that. Shortly after Bella left, the Cullens hired a house cleaning company to come in once a month to keep things in order. In case Bella ever decided to come back, they'd want her to have a decent place to come back to. **

**JACOB **

As I knelt there crying and wallowing in the agony of losing the girl that had meant the world to me, I was vaguely away of Seth and Sam's hands on my shoulders, each offer the slightest bit of comfort. I barely noticed, after the Cullens' departure, that my pack had shifted until I was staring into the sad faces of my brothers and sister.

Embry, Quil, Jared, Paul, and Seth had tears streaming down their faces, even Sam's usual calm and serene exterior looked about to crack. I had a feeling it was simply his duty to the pack that was holding him together. I knew the minute we were gone, he would be a sobbing mess like the rest of us. You couldn't lose a friend like Bella and be able to keep it together for long.

Those who hadn't known Bella were looking at me with pity and concern. Some, like Collin and Brady, had looks of downright fear on their faces. I didn't need to be in wolf form to know exactly what they were all thinking.

In the back of their minds, they were all replaying the images of me standing in my kitchen with that stupid handgun pointed at my head. The images they had seen flash through Sam's mind at least once a day for the last fourteen years. I was sure that most of them were wondering if Bella's death would be enough to make me pull the trigger this time. To tell the truth, I was wondering the same thing, myself.

They all stood there staring at me as I cried. I knew they were trying to find the right things to say or do, but nobody could think of anything. It was ironic, really. After all the losses we've faced over the last twenty or so years- parents, friends, even a couple of brothers in a fight with three nomadic vampires- we should all be experts at the consoling thing, but this was something that never got any easier.

To everyone's surprise, except mine, Leah was the first person to do anything. She stepped up to me and dropped down to her knees. She then wrapped her arms around me, not saying anything. She knew all too well that there was nothing to be said that could make this any better. I wrapped my arms around her as well and buried my face in her shirt as I continued sobbing.

If someone would've told me sixteen years ago that Leah would've been the one to comfort me after Bella's death, I would've laughed in their face. Since then, though, we've gotten extremely close. Thanks to what happened between her, Sam, and Emily, she understood what it was like to love someone who didn't feel the same about you. She listened when I had something to say and helped in the places that Dr. Cullen couldn't. I would forever be grateful for that.

I wasn't sure how long I cried before Sam spoke.

"Jake," he said in a gentle voice. I pulled my head away from Leah shoulder to look at him. I wiped away some of the tears in an attempt to look like less of a mess. "I know this is going to be very difficult for you to deal with, so I want you to take some time off pack duty. In fact, I want you to take as much time as you need. Go home, get some rest, and deal with this in anyway you need to. Call Dr. Cullen for a session if you need to."

I nodded and wiped a few more tears away. I was glad that he had given me unlimited leave from my duties. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to bounce back from this. I'd have to take it one day at a time.

"Seth, Leah," Sam continued. "I want the two of you to take him home and stay with him for awhile."

His words didn't help my already festering sadness and anger over what happened to Bella. In fact, they threatened to send it over the edge. I couldn't believe that he didn't trust me to be able to handle this alone. I've made a lot of progress over the last fourteen years. Sure, I wondered if this was enough to actually make me pull the trigger this time. That didn't mean that I was going to put the gun to my head and find out. I learned from my mistake last time. I knew suicide would be a stupid move.

"I don't need a babysitter." I said trying not to sound too upset with him. I understood that he was just trying to help, even if I didn't like his methods.

"I know." Sam replied. "But I remember what happened when Billy died. You could barely get out of bed for that first month. Rachel and Paul had to move in for a while to make sure that you remembered to eat. I'm sure Bella's death will be the same for you, if not worse. I'm sending Leah and Seth with you, to make sure that you are taken care of and remind you to do the important things."

I nodded, not in the mood to point out that he had just described the responsibilities of a babysitter. I knew I'd never win the argument, so there was really no point in trying to fight him. I'd just have to deal with it. Besides, they all just wanted to help. It wouldn't be right if I denied them that.

"Good." Sam replied. "Now, you four," he nodded to Paul, Embry, Jared, and Quil. "I know you were close with Bella as well and need your time to grieve. So I'm going to send each of you home for the day. Get some rest, talk to your imprints, do what you have to do to deal with this."

The four nodded and each muttered a thank you.

"As for everyone else, I want you guys to run your normal patrols for the day. I'll rearrange some times so the others boys shifts will be covered. I'm sorry you guys have to pull extra duty, but I'm sure you understand."

"Of course we do, boss." Alex, who had only been a member of the pack for ten years, said. The others nodded vigorously. "Our brothers need there time to grieve. We are happy to fill in for them.

"Thank you, Alex." Sam replied with a small smile at him. "Would you be interested in running Jared's patrol this morning?"

"Of course, boss." he nodded.

"Good, I will work on the rest of the changes and get them to you by the shift change." Sam continued.

"Actually, Sam, I could do it for you." Collin said stepping forward. "I know the schedule and groupings as well as you and Jacob do. We understand that you were close to Bella as well and would like you to take a day or two off as well. We will be fine without you."

"I appreciate it, Collin, but as your Alpha it is my job to take care of my pack first." he said. "I will take my turn once I'm sure the rest of you are alright."

"But…"

"No buts, Collin." Sam said at a level just below his Alpha voice. "I need to do something. It's the best way for me to deal."

"Okay." Collin said taking the hint in Sam's tone.

"Alright, let's get out of here." Sam said.

I allowed Seth and Leah to help me up. I didn't waste any time phasing into the beast that had been trying to get out of me since Dr. Cullen said those horrible words. I ran to the house with Leah and Seth on either side of me trying to block out their fear for my sanity.

**EDWARD**

Once we left the wolves, my family and I headed home. This was the first time that we had even thought about returning to this particular house in sixteen years. A couple months after Bella's departure from Forks, we decided that it would be better for everyone, especially Jacob and myself, if we left Forks and stayed away for a few decades. The only reason why we came back was to inform the pack of Bella's death. We hadn't planned on staying after that meeting. Unfortunately, as Carlisle told the wolves, there was a lot more that we needed to discuss with them.

We spent much our time in Jacksonville trying to unravel the mysteries of the last sixteen years of Bella's life, as well as the circumstances of her death. Unfortunately, our attempts only opened up many more questioned and left us more confused than before. We knew we had to tell the pack about the things we discovered, just in case these mysteries came back to haunt either group of us.

They needed time to grieve, though, before we threw all of this information at them. The loss of Bella was going to be difficult on all of them. It wouldn't help matters if we added more questions and confusion to their grief, especially Jacob's. He had already been pushed too close to the edge once, I didn't want to be responsible for sending him over it this time. His pack still needed him.

"Emmett, can we go for a walk?" Rosalie asked as soon as we got home.

Rosalie was taking Bella's death much harder than anyone else in the family. It definitely surprised the hell out of me considering that she didn't like Bella much. She didn't like Bella much. She was too jealous and resentful of Bella to even begin to like her. Now, that Bella was gone, all Rosalie could think about was how wrong she was for treating Bella that way.

"Of course." Emmett said and the two headed off into the woods.

I sighed and continued into the house. The place was covered in a thick layer of dust and had cob webs hanging form the ceiling. The windows were so dirty you couldn't even see outside. I was sure several spiders had made there homes in different crevices of the house. The only things that looked like they hadn't been sitting around untouched for sixteen years was the furniture and that was only because Esme had covered it with plastic before we left so it would still be nice when we finally decided to come back.

Esme set right to work without so much as a word. Esme enjoyed doing the things a normal human mother would do, including making and keeping our homes live able. Her need to do that was the only reason we didn't hire a cleaning crew to care for our houses while we were away. She could have this sixteen years of dirt and grime cleaned in less than two or three hours anyway.

I sighed as I watched her walked into the kitchen. She hadn't said much to anyway since the day we arrived in Jacksonville and found Bella's burnt to ash house. We all knew that she had considered Bella as much her child as the rest of us. For her, losing Bella had been almost exactly like losing her baby. She was having a hard time dealing and no one how to help her.

"_She'll be okay son." _Carlisle thought placing his hand on my shoulder. _"She just needs time." _I nodded, not sure if I believed him. "Esme, I'm going to my study." He said kneeling beside her as she searched for her cleaning products in the sink. "You call if you need anything or just want to talk, okay?"

"Alright." she replied without barely any emotion. Carlisle sighed, kissed her on the forehead and headed upstairs.

Jasper sighed and turned to Alice. He looked like he was about ready to explode.

"I'm sorry I have to do this to you, love, but I need to get out of here for awhile." he said. "All this depression is starting to get to me. I'm starting to feel like I'm going to die."

Jasper felt a lot closer to Bella than any one in the family, other than me. It was strange. His want to not hurt her always kept him at a distance. They talked often, but he never allowed himself to be alone with her.

He was impressed and touched by her unfailing trust and faith in his ability to keep it under control. He thought he had ruined any hope of having even a friendly relationship with her on her eighteenth birthday. But the next time she saw him, it was as if nothing happened. It was for this reason that he tried so hard to be her friend while she was a human.

He was just as devastated, maybe even more so, as the rest of us. It didn't help that he was an empath who had to deal with six other people's devastation. It had to be taking it's toll by then.

"It's okay, Jazz. I understand." Alice said taking his hands. "You gotta take car of yourself. Stay away as long as you need."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked.

"Of course. Edward and I need to have a long talk anyway. Now is the perfect time for that." Alice answered.

"Okay." Jasper replied sadly. "I'll call in a few hours to check on you."

He kissed Alice's forehead and headed out the back door.

"Your room or mine?" Alice asked after a minute.

"Mine." I said feeling the need to be close to something familiar. She nodded and we walked up the stairs together.

As we walked, I wondered what we had to talk about. She had already apologized for lying to me for the last sixteen years and I forgave her. It was water under the bridge. I knew she was worried about me, they all were, but Bella was dead and all the talking in the world wasn't going to bring her back. So what was the point.

When we reached my room, I simply pulled the tarp off of the beautiful bed that I had once shared with Bella and flopped down on it. I'd deal with the cleaning later. Alice sat done beside me.

"Edward, are you okay?" she asked nervously. I shrugged my shoulders, but didn't answer. She let out a frustrated sigh. "Not talking about it isn't going to help, you know?"

"And what's talking about it going to do Alice?" I replied a little nastier than I intended. "It certainly isn't going to change anything."

"Maybe not, but it might make you feel better." she argued. I shook my head and turned to face the dirty window. "I remember what happened when you thought Bella was dead. I remember what you did and I don't wanna see you go there again. There's no one here to save you this time. So please, just talk to me?"

"And what do you want me to say, Alice?" I said turning over to look at her. "Do you want me to tell you that I won't go back there? Or that I'll be fine this time? Because it would be lies. I can't promise you anything. I don't even know if I can make it through this visit, let alone the next hundred years without her."

"No." she answered. "That's not what I want you to say. I want you to tell me what's going on inside your head. How do you feel?"

"How the hell do you think I feel!" I nearly yelled at her. "The reason for my existence is dead and there's nothing that I can do to change it! I can't even avenge her, because the Volturi were well within in their rights to kill her! She broke their rules and knew they wouldn't give her a second chance!"

"But you want to?" Alice pushed with a small but sad smile on her face. She knew that she had opened the floodgate, now she just had to get it to spill over.

"Of course I do, Alice." I said trying to rein in the anger. "I want to go to their precious castle and set it on fire. I want to listen to their screams as they all burn alive. I want them to feel every ounce of pain Bella felt the night she died. I want her to know that those bastards got what they deserved. But I can't."

"I know how you feel." Alice said placing her hand on my shoulder.

"No, you don't, Alice." I said pulling away from her. "You don't know a damn thing about how I'm feeling right now. You don't know the guilt that has been eating at me since the day we found her house in a pile of ashes."

"You don't think that I have guilt?" she responded outraged. "Did you forget that I was the one who knew exactly where she was for the last sixteen years and I didn't tell anyone or try to convince her to come home? I talked to her almost every damn day, Edward and I didn't do anything. Hell, I was the one who helped her leave, because she asked me to. So don't you dare, tell me that I don't know about your guilt because I do."

"It wasn't your responsibility, though." I replied. "She wasn't your responsibility. She was mine. I promised to protect her from everything. I always told her that I would never let anything hurt her. But when she wanted to leave, I didn't do anything to stop her."

"You couldn't have stopped her." Alice reminded me. "She made sure she was gone before either of you knew she was leaving. She made sure that I didn't give you the letters until afterwards. She didn't want you to go after her, because she knew you would've convinced her to stay. And she had her own guilt that wouldn't allow that to happen. You couldn't have done anything."

"Maybe." I sighed. We both knew, though, that if I had tried, I could've found a way to get to her. "But what about the last sixteen years. I could've tried to find her, or read deeper into your thoughts about her. I could've talked to Renee to see if she knew anything. I could've found her and went to her. I could've talked to her and convinced her to come home. God knows, I thought about it so much over the last sixteen, but never acted on it. My inability to deny her what she wanted cost her her life, Alice. That's why this is my fault. I could've saved her."

"_Can I come in?" _I heard Carlisle's thoughts at my door, before Alice could respond.

"Sure." I said.

Carlisle walked in and I sat up to make some room for him on the bed. He sighed and sat down between Alice and I.

"I couldn't help but overhear your guys' conversation." he said. Alice and I both looked down at the bed in embarrassment. I guess neither of us realized how loud we were getting in a house full of vampires. "And I want you both to know that this isn't your fault, it isn't anybody's fault. Bella made her decisions and nothing anyone could've said or done would've changed her mind. You both know that when Bella wanted something she stopped at nothing to get it. It would've been the same way this time. There was nothing any of us could've done."

I sighed and put my head in my hands. He was right. Bella would've gone away and stayed away no matter what. She believed that it was the best thing for Jacob and I and no one would've been able to convince her any different. None of us could've been blamed for that. Bella made her decision and we all had to live with the consequences.

"I know, but I just wish that there was something I could've done." I told him with a sigh.

"We all do, son." Carlisle replied wrapping his arm around my shoulder. Alice had laid her head on his shoulder and Carlisle kissed the top of it. "I'm so sorry, my children."

**ROSEMARIE **

Erick and I laid on the bed silently trying to make sense of the mess that my mother had left me with. I couldn't make sense of anything at all. Who were those people that visited my mother before she died? Did they really have something to do with her death? Where they coming after me?

It seemed like so far, this trip had led to more questions than answers. I found myself wishing I could have one last conversation with my mother. I knew she had kept all of this from me for a reason. I just wanted her to tell me what that reason was. What did she so desperately want to protect me from? Was my life in danger? I had all these questions that I wanted her to answer.

The ringing of the doorbell pulled me out of my thoughts. Erick sighed and pushed himself up.

"That's probably the pizza." he said. "I'll get it. Why don't you take a little look around downstairs? I'm going to talk to him and see if he can tell me anything about your mom. It's a small town, maybe his parents knew her or something."

I nodded and we both got out of the bed. I was still wearing the jeans and sweatshirt that I had gotten off the plane in. If it had been any other day, I would've changed right away after getting out of bed. I had the same outfit on for nearly twelve hours, gross. However, after the day I had, I didn't much care anymore.

We walked down the stairs and the front door was right at the bottom. Erick answered while I went into the living room. I tuned out there conversation as I took a look around the living room. There were a few half packed boxes lying around the room, but almost everything was still in it's proper place.

My mom hand told me that my grandfather had died a few weeks before she left Forks. It looked like she never finished the job. Judging by the cleanliness of things, she had had someone come in and clean regularly. I wondered why she didn't have them finish the packing or even empty things out of this house.

There weren't many knick knacks or what-nots around the living room. Just a sofa and a T.V. your typical bachelor pad. There were books and magazines stacked in neat piles on the table and shelves. There were even a few T.V. guides sitting in the stacks.

There were a few pictures on the walls and tables. Most were of a woman that I recognized as a younger version of my grandma and a handsome man that I could only assume was my grandpa. The were embracing and sometimes kissing in most of the pictures. There was one from there wedding hanging on the wall directly above the television. They looked like they were so in love. I wondered what happened.

On the mantle above the fireplace was a row of pictures of a young girl that I recognized as my mom. The pictures started at what looked like her senior year in high school and went all the way done to her first baby pictures. It was so weird seeing my mom like that. It wasn't until then that I realized just how much I had looked like her growing up.

The one on the very end caught my attention. It was of my grandmother lying in a hospital bed looking adoringly at a bundle in her arms. My grandfather was sitting on the bed beside her looking down at the bundle just as adoringly. I assumed the bundle was my mother.

I stepped closer to get a better look, wondering if my mother looked at me like that when I was born. I heard a crunch and felt something hard underneath my foot. I stepped off of whatever it was and looked down. It was a picture that had fallen off the mantle. I picked it up, careful not to cut myself as I flipped it over. What I saw there shocked my more than anything that had happened over the last month.

The picture was of my mother. She was wearing a beautiful white dress that looked like it was from the 18 or 19 century. Her hair and make up was done in such a way that I barely recognized her. Don't get me wrong, my mom was beautiful, even if she wouldn't admit it to herself, but in this picture, she was almost transcendent. It was amazing how she looked. She had a glowing smile on her face. It was like she couldn't be happier. Behind her, with his arms wrapped around her was a very handsome man.

His features were almost perfect and he had strange, but beautiful red hair that was spiked up in every direction. His smile revealed perfectly straight white teeth and reached all the way to his glowing butterscotch eyes. All those things made his pale skin and the dark circles under his eyes just fade away into nothing. He was the most handsome man that I had ever seen.

Shock over took every emotion in my mind as I understood the meaning of this picture. My mom had been married to a man that clearly wasn't my father. I had a much darker complexion with straight black hair. There was no way this man could possibly be my father. I looked done at the time stamp on the photo. August 13 almost a year before I was born. Did my mom have an affair with my father?

"Good news, the pizza guy is the son of a Mike Newton." Erick's voice broke through my shock. "And according to the son, Mike was good friends with a Bella Swan. So we should…"

I heard every word that he had sad, but I was too transfixed and shocked by what I was seeing to respond. Erick must have noticed because he trailed off. I heard him put the pizza down and walk over to me.

"What's wrong?" he asked over my shoulder.

"She was married." I managed to say handing him the picture.

"And to a man that obviously wasn't your father." Erick responded as he stared at the picture.

"And look at date stamp." I said. "It was almost a year before I was born. That meant she had to have had an affair." I was seriously freaking out why would she marry a guy and cheat on him only a few months into the relationship that didn't make sense. "I don't understand. Why would she do this?"

"Relax, love." Erick said laying the picture on the mantle. "We don't know what happened. She could've gotten an anullment or divorce before you were conceived. Let's not get worked up about this."

"You're right." I said walking over and wrapping my arms around him.

"Now, you haven't eaten all day, so let's get some food, then we'll see if we can start piecing some of this together. Okay?"

"Okay." I said and pulled away.

Erick picked up the pizza and we headed to the kitchen for dinner even more confused than we were a half hour ago.

**A/N: Hope you enjoy. Please review. **


	5. Not Wrapping This in Ribbons

**A/N: I'm sorry this story is taking so long to get out. Usually, I have some kind of an idea of where my stories are going before I start them. Unfortunately, I didn't have any clue when I started this one and I'm still trying to work out the finer points, so please bear with me. I'm trying very hard to work this out. **

**ROSEMARIE**

"Wow, Isabella Swan. That's a name I haven't heard in years." Mike Newton said as we sat down at the table of the small cafe. It wasn't my first choice in a resurtaunt, but it was the only one in town.

It was few days after our arrival in Forks. This was the first time the Erick and I had really been out since we arrivcd. We were already attracting the stares of many of the town's residence. That was the problem with a small town, newcomers were put under a lot of scrunity. Unlike my mother, I hadn't shied away from the attention. I waved, smiled, and even yelled some greetings to friendlier looking people. Erick smiled at my ability to handle the attention.

Unfortunately, we hadn't found out much in our time in the house. I went through just about everything in my mother's old room. All I found was an old yearbook from her senior year in high school. In the book we found a picture of Edward Cullen, the man my mother had been married to. There were a few other Cullens listed next to him, but I couldn't tell if the were related or not.

There were a few more pictures of him, my mom, and several other of her friends, but nothing that gave us any hints of what happened between Edward and my mom.

Thankfully, the pizza delivery guy told his father about his weird trip to my grandpa's house. Mike Newton managed to get a hold of us the next day and told us he would meet us with a couple of my Bella's other friends at the cafe.

"I know." Angela said with a kind smile. "I haven't even talked to her since the day after Chief Swan's funeral. I didn't even know she left town until Alice called me."

"Who's Alice?" I asked ignroing the menu in front of me.

"Edward Cullen's sister and Bella's best friend." Angela said. "She was such a strange girl."

She said it with a small giggle and shake of her head, which made me believe she meant the good kind of strange.

"The entire Cullen family was strange." Jessica Stanley said with a sneer. "I never liked any of them. I always had the feeling they felt they were better than the rest of us."

I had decided the minute I looked at Jessica that I didn't like her. She seemed like a snobby little bitch. I couldn't imagine my mom ever being friends with her. She just had that air about her that said she felt she was better than anyone else. I had funny feeling that she was just jealous of the Cullen family.

"Whatever, Jess." Angela said nudging her. "You're just mad because Edward chose Bella over you."

I couldn't hold back my triumphant smile. I loved my ability to read people. Jessica responded by giving her a death glare.

"So how do you know Bella?" Mike asked pointedly trying to avoid a cat fight.

"I'm her daughter." I said without hesitation. I had never been the type of person to beat around the bush. I always said what I wanted to say when I wanted to say it. Something that I had gotten from my mother.

All three of my mother's old friends just stared at me in utter shock as if I had grown three heads or something. I waited patiently for the shock to wear off. I didn't want to continue this conversation before they had time to let it all sink in.

"Impossible." Jessica finally said shaking her head. As she looked me up and down. The others seemed to share her disbelief. "Bella and Edward are both paler than ghosts. You on the other hand, look like you've grown up in the sun. And I know enough about tans to know your complexion is too natural to be one."

"Wait a minute, Jess." Angela said raising her hand. "How old are you?"

"I'll be sixteen in a few months." I answered.

Angela stared at me in confusion for a long time and I wondered what she was thinking. After one long tense moment, the realization hit and I noticed Angela smile a little bit. I could tell it was in spite of herself.

"So that's why she left." she said with a small nod to herself.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's a long story and I'm not sure I'm the right person to tell it." Angela said with a sigh.

Before I could protest the waitress came by and took our orders. I ordered the first thing I saw on the menu-chicken fingers and french fries. I barely noticed what the others ordered as the questions Angela's words cultivated swirled in my head.

When the waitress walked away I looked back at Angela.

"Please tell me what happened?" I pleaded with her.

"I can't." Angela sighed. "This is between Bella, Edward, and your father. They're the only ones who should be telling you this stuff. It gets way too personal and there is a lot that I promised Bella that I would never tell anyone. I believe in keeping my promises, no matter how long its been since I've talked to someone."

She bit her lip and looked down at the table. I could tell she was extremely torn between loyalty to her friend and the want to help someone. She didn't know what to do.

I felt tears of frustration welling in my eyes. I understood Angela's position completely. If I had been in that position, I would've stayed loyal to Erick no matter who was asking me the questions. It was just so frustrating to be so close to answers and not be able to get them.

Erick put his arm around me and rubbed gentle circles into my shoulders. I leaned into his shoulder with a sigh and tried to hold in my tears. I hated letting people see me cry, especially total strangers. I didn't like to be percieved as weak. My mother had always taught me to appear strong and unafraid in the face of terrifying things. She told me it was the way she survived the obstacles in her life.

The whole table was silent for a few long minutes. Mike and Jessica seemed to have caught on to what Angela had figured out. They seemed to be dealing with the same loyalty issues as she was. I knew I wasn't going to get any answers out of them.

"Wait a minute." Jessica said as something else just dawned on her. "Why are you here asking us these questions? Why aren't you talking to your mom? And why didn't she tell you any of this herself?"

I bit my lip and looked down at the table. I knew this part was coming, but I wasn't ready for it. I knew she was dead and not coming back. The memorial had taken away all thoughts of her coming back. However, knowing it and saying it were two different things. The words stuck in my throat and I couldn't answer.

"Bella Swan died a little over two weeks ago." Erick said squeezing my shoulder. I would never be more grateful for him.

The shock from this announcement was worse than when I told them I was Bella's daughter. I wasn't sure what any of them were thinking at the moment, but I could see the tears welling as each one of them came to terms with what that meant.

"How?" Mike asked and I could hear his fight to control the lump in his throat.

"A house fire." Erick said. "There was nothing left of the house. The police don't know why she couldn't get out."

Mike nodded and took Jessica's hand. It wasn't until then that I noticed the rings on her finger. I guess the two must have been married. High school sweethearts, interesting.

I was surprised to see that Jessica had tears rolling down her face. She didn't seem like the type who would cry over anyone's death, except maybe her own.

Angela was looking around biting her lip as if she wasn't sure what to do or say. Or even like she couldn't believe what Erick had just told her.

"How did you get out?" she finally asked me.

"I wasn't there." I answered feeling the wash of guilt that I felt everytime I thought about my mom being alone in that house. "Erick and I had gone to see a movie and when he brought me home, it was all gone."

A few stray tears found their way down my cheeks and I turned my head into Erick's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." I heard Erick say. "She's still having difficulty dealing with the fact that she wasn't there."

"That's understandble." Angela said reaching out and squeezing my hand. "I just hope you understand that Bella would've rather you have been away that night."

"I know, but it doesn't make me feel any less guilty." I answered squeezing her hand back.

"You're right, it probably doesn't." she responded.

"You mean she didn't tell you anything before she died?" Jessica asked. I could tell she wasn't a person who knew much about tact.

I heard a thud under the table. Apparently, Angela thought she was being rude and insensitive too.

"Oh!" Jessica exclaimed. "What? I just want to know what happened."

"It's okay." I said. "I expected you guys would have question about why I'm here." I smiled a silent thank you at Angela though. "She didn't tell me anything about her time in Forks or my father. All she said was that he abandoned us before I was born. She didn't even tell me that she was married to this Edward guy."

"How did you know that?" Mike asked surprised that I had that knowledge.

"We've been staying at her old house and I found some pictures of her and Edward." I answered. "One was a wedding photo."

Mike nodded.

"I just don't understand why she got married a little over a year before I was born if her husband wasn't my father."

Angela sighed and touched my hand again.

"I can't say too much, but I can tell you this. Whatever happened, your mom loved both Edward and your father. Every now and then she blurred the lines, even if she didn't mean to."

I nodded even though I honestly had no idea what she was talking about. It sounded like my mom was playing with Edward and my father something awful. I didn't want to believe my mother would be that cruel, but she had been lying to me for the last sixteen years. Maybe she didn't want me to find out about her reputation.

"So if she didn't tell you anyhting about your father or her time in Forks, then how did you end up here trying to find him?" Jessica asked.

"Because she left me a letter explaining everything. She told me that I'd find out who my father is if I came to Forks. She also told me that I might not like what I find."

Jessica smirked a little and nodded when I said that.

"Bella had her secrets. Ones that she kept from all of us. She seemed to think that we didn't notice, but we did. Especially during her relationship with Edward and his family. We knew enough about them to know that they were hiding something, but we were never able to figure out what. Bella discovered their secret, but she didn't tell anyone. If you want to uncover the truth, I'd start by looking for them. They could probably tell you everything that you wanna know about your mom."

"But how do I find them?' I asked excited to finally be getting somewhere.

"No idea." Jessica replied with a shrug. "They left a few months after Bella did. We haven't heard from or about any of them since. It's like the completely disappeared.

The little bubbly of hope promptly deflated as the waitress brought us our food. Erick and Mike being guys, dug right in, but us three girls were too deep in our discussion to even touch our food.

"Did she tell you anything about your father in the letter?" Angela asked.

"Just that he was a good and kind man who didn't know anything about me. She also told me to go to the inidian reservation a few miles from here and find Jacob Black. He'd be able to tell me everything about my father." I answered.

"You should listen to her." Angela replied. "He can tell you so much more than I'm at liberty to. He could might even know about her secrets. I'm sorry that we can't be of anymore help.

"No." I said. "You've actually been a lot of help." I now had no doubt in my mind that this Jacob Black was my father. That would be the only reason Angela would tell me that he could tell me what I wanted to know. "I just have a couple more questions."

Angela and Jessica nodded to show they were listening and Mike looked up from his cheeseburger.

"In the letter my mom mentioned that she was in danger." I said. "She told me that her lies were finally catching up to her and someone was after her. She seemed to think someone was going to kill her. She told me that she had lied to me all those years just so she could protect me. Do you know if she was into anything dangerous? Like drugs or a gang or something?"

The three of them shook their heads.

"Like Jessica said, she had her secrets. Jacob, Edward and his family seemed to be the only ones in on them. I don't think she was into drugs or gangs though. Bella didn't seem like the type. She was always a sweet, quiet girl who liked to keep to herself. She didn't go out much and when she did, she wouldn't stay out long."

I nodded. Everything she was saying sounded exactly like my mom. She was the same way when I was growing up. She always preferred to spend time with me or alone reading over going out with guys and having fun. So what was so dangerous for her in Forks.

"That sounds exactly like my mom." I replied with a smile. "Now, a couple of weeks before the fire, she had a visit from four people that I didn't recognize. She seemed terrified of them and they were very indimidating. She called them, Alec, Jane, Demetri, and Felix. Do any of those names mean anything to any of you?"

Once again, all three shook their heads.

"Secrets." Jessica mumbled and took a bite of her salad.

I sighed, but couldn't think of anything to say, so I popped a fry into my mouth. Angela took this as a sign the conversation was over and bit into her BLT.

We ate in silence. I wasn't sure what the others were thinking about, but I was puzzling over everything in my mind. While I had found a little bit of information, it wasn't enough to help anything make sense yet. I supposed I'd have to make that trip to the idian reservation soon.

"I'm sorry we couldn't be of more help, sweetie." Angela said once the bill was paid and we were standing outside the restaraunt. "Unfortunately, I have to get back to work, but it was lovely meeting you." She wrapped her arms around me and I hugged her back. "Here's my number." She pulled a piece of paper and pen out of her purse and scribbled her number. "Call me if you have anymore questions."

"Thank you." I replied taking the number and slipping it into my pocket. "For everything. And it was lovely meeting all of you."

"If you happen to uncover any of those secrets, you should let us know." Jessica said with a smile. "Even sixteen years later, I'm still into good gossip."

"It depends on the secret." I replied holding out my hand. "She was my mother after all."

She didn't respond, but shook my hand with a polite smile. She was such a fake little bitch. I wanted to slap that smile off her face and tell her to leave my mother's memory in piece. My mom had taught me better than that though. I simply shook her hand with my own fake smile plastered on my face.

"It was lovely meeting you." Mike said sounding a little lost. Maybe he liked my mom more than he had let on.

I shook his hand unsure of what to say. He shook it back, then the three of them headed to their cars. Erick and I watched them go before we took off down the street.

**JACOB**

A couple of days after the Cullens broke the news of Bella's death, I was still trying to come to terms with it. I had accepted the she was dead and not coming back, but that wasn't the hardest thing to deal with. The guilt was the worst. I could've saved her if I wanted to.

I had thought so many times about leaving Washington and tracking her down over the last sixteen years. I imagined, so many times, find her and bringing her back here. I thought about convincing her to stay in La Push with me and forgetting about Edward.

I never acted on those thoughts, though. I had responsibilities to my pack. I couldn't go wandering around and searching for someone who didn't want to be found, just because she broke my heart. At least, that's what I told myself.

The truth was, I didn't think that I could handle losing her again. I could only imagine what it would do to me if she refused to come back with me. I didn't want to have to deal with the rejection again.

Now, all I could think about is how selfish I was. If I had done what I had thought so many times about doing, I could've protected her when those Volturi asses came to call. My pack and I could've brought them down on by one. We could've stopped her from having to go through that.

Instead, I did nothing and now she was dead because of it. Dead because I was too selfish to do what needed to be done. I hated myself for not going after her. I could've saved her, but I didn't. I did nothing and now she was dead.

In didn't help matters when the Cullens told us there was more we needed to know about their trip to seattle and Bella's death. I wondered what could possibly be worse than Bella being dead. Then I remembered that she had been away from us for sixteen years, God only knew the number of secrets she had accumulated by then.

It was for that reason, Sam and I found ourselves standing in our usual meeting spot facing the Cullens. Carlisle had apologized for rushing us, but they needed to get out of town before someone noticed they were back.

Sam had decided that it would be best if just he and I were present. He was worried about sending the others over the deep end. He constantly worried about sending me over the deep end on the time, but he knew that I had I right to hear everything about what happened to Bella.

"Carlisle." Sam said with a nod. "You said there was more we needed to hear about Bella. We are ready to listen."

"We spent two weeks in Jacksonville trying to figure out everything we could about Bella's life over the last sixteen years. Unfortunately, because I'm just her ex-husband the authorities wouldn't tell us anything about her life or death. And we tried everything to get them to tell us anything, even bribery. It didn't work." Carlisle explained. "So we went to the next obvious source: Renee. We didn't want to overwhelm her, so only Jasper and I went. That way, Jasper could calm her if she needed it."

Carlisle sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"We went to see her three times." he continued. "The first, she nobody answered the door. We could hear they were home, but they wouldn't come to the door. The second time, Renee came out, but wouldn't let us inside or answer any of our questions and she seemed really nervous and upset the whole time. The third time, she let us in and told us only that Bella requested none of us be present at the services. It was actually written in her will that we were not allowed to attend. She wouldn't tell us why, only that we'd be thrown out if we tried to come. We, of course, respected Bella's wishes, but were curious as to why she wanted it that way."

"So what did you do?" I asked wondering why Bella wanted to keep the family away. I knew Bella had always considered them family. Why wouldn't she accept them at the funeral? Unless, she was hiding something, but what would she want to hide from us.

"We didn't want to attract too much attention by openly asking questions. Besides, our natural human repellent didn't let us get close enough to ask. And we knew the police wouldn't be of any help, so we had to depend on Bella's files. Unfortunately, the Volturi got to all of Bella's records before we could. Everything was destroyed. It was as if Bella never existed. The only thing we could find was the police report from after the fire. And it had some interesting information on it?"

"What kind of information?" I asked. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that whatever it was, was going to be a million times worse than finding out she was dead.

"Witnesses stated that Bella entered the house an hour before the blaze began, but nobody saw her leave the house again after that." Alice answered with a sigh.

I shook my head.

"But that's fact!" I exploded. "She died in the fire, so of course, she never came out. There's no mystery to that!"

"But they never found any human remains." Alice stated calmly.

Those words froze me and sent a million questions running through my mind. The didn't find any human remains. That meant that Bella didn't die in the fire. If that were true then maybe she didn't die at all. Maybe she was still alive somewhere. But why she make every she loved believe she was dead? And where was she hiding? And why?

"I know what you are thinking, Jacob, but don't get your hopes up." Edward said shaking his head.

"Why not?" I asked. "If they didn't find any human remains, then it's possible that she survived. She could be out there somewhere."

"You're right." Edward sighed. "It could mean anything and yes, she could very well be alive. Unfortunately, it doesn't mean that we will ever see her again."

His words sent a bubble of anger surging through me and I had to fight to stay in control. Jasper tried to help me but my body was rejecting it.

"You mean to tell me that she might be alive and you aren't going to do anything about it!" I nearly yelled. "I thought you loved her!"

In a flash, Edward was inches from my face. The look in his eyes told me that he doing everything he could to not rip my head off.

"Don't you dare question my feelings for that girl." Edward growled. "I love her more deeply than you can even imagine."

"And yet you aren't going to help her when she needs it the most?" I questioned raising my eyebrows.

Edward let out a feral growl and I thought for a moment that we were finally going to get to go at each other.

"Edward, calm down, son." Carlisle said calmly suddenly in between us. "We need to explain to him exactly what this means."

Edward glared at me for another long moment. I thought for sure he was going to defy Carlisle. Instead, he sighed and took a few steps away from me. I turned my attention to Carlisle.

"Exactly what does this mean." I asked.

"There could be several explanations for the lack of remains in the house." Carlisle answered me with a sigh. "The first and most likely, the Volturi guard tore her apart so bad there was nothing left to find. The second, they took her out of the house before they set it on fire, so they could kill her slower and in a less public place."

I cringed at the thought of what the would do if they had more time and less witnesses. An image of Bella being thrown around an empty field bleeding and begging for death. I looked up at Edward. His expression had changed from anger to sadness as quickly as my thoughts had changed.

"It is possible that they took her back to Volterra, so that Aro could kill her himself." Carlisle continued. "I really hope that's not the case. She would've suffered the most if that were the case."

"Not necessarily, Carlisle." Jasper said stepping away from Alice who sighed. "You know there is one possibility that is a million times worse."

"I know, son." Carlisle sighed, "But I'm hoping against hope that's not the case either."

"You're hoping what's not the case?" I said catching the fear in both of their tones.

"Where I come from, the vampires are a million times more sadistic than anything you've ever seen." Jasper answered. "They kill, vampires and humans alike, without a second thought. Some even play with and toture their victims before they kill them. Those people are the lucky ones."

He stopped for a moment as though the memories caused him pain. I wondered how much like these other vampires he had been. Alice stepped up and put her hand on his shoulder. He smiled at her and continued,

"Some vampires went as far as keeping human pets. They would kidnap girls they like and keep them in cages like animals. The would treat them like slaves, humiliating and degrading them on a regular basis. They would make them crawl around on all fours with leashes. Publically rape and abuse them. It was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen. It's a practice that I'm proud to say I've never been apart of. I've always looked done on those who did that. Considered them to be pathetic and worthless.

"When the Volturi come to purge the cities of newborns and their creators the humans are killed as well. Most are happy to be given a way out. I've heard stories that Aro liked the idea of human pets and has taken some of his own over the last century or so. It is possible that he feels this punishment fits her crime."

His words sent a strange buzzing through my head. I couldn't help but get angry again. Where those Volturi actually doing that to my beautiful angel? And if they were why the hell were we still standing here? Shouldn't we be on the first plane to Volterra to save her?

"Once again Jacob, stop thinking what you are thinking." Edward said with a sigh.

"Why?" I asked unable to believe that he hadn't already led his family to her rescue. I figured if they new all of this then they would've already been to Volterra. "She could be suffering."

"But we don't know for sure." Edward argued. "If we walk in the ready to fight and throwing accusations at Aro without proof, we'll all end up dead. Besides, even if we did know, for sure, that he was keeping her as a pet, there is nothing we could do about it."

"And why not?" I still couldn't believe that he was arguing with me. If he loved her then he should be willing to do anyhting for her. Regardless, of what could happen.

"Stop. Questioning. My. Love. For. Her." Edward growled.

"Then why won't you help her?" I answered.

"Because, dog, our kind have one rule." the blond ice queen stated walking toward me. "Keep the secret. We broke the law by allowing Bella to find out about us. The minute we did, Bella became a liability in the Volturi's eyes. The obvious solution was to kill her, but she made a deal that she'd become one of them instead. The Volturi accepted the deal and she had every intention of following through. Then some stupid mutt who couldn't keep his tail between his legs got in the way."

By the time she finished her speech she was standing right in front of me with her teeth bared glaring at me. I felt red hot anger flash through my spine and fought with all of my might to hold on to my human form. I could feel myself start to blur.

I couldn't believe that she was blaming me for what happened with Bella. It's not like put her up against a wall and forced her to have sex with me. She knew exactly what she was doing when we were having sex. She didn't tell me no or try to stop me.

"I didn't do anything wrong." I growled.

"Except take advantage of a sad, vulnerable woman who just lost her father." Rosalie challenged.

"Rosalie, that's uncalled for." Edward growled.

"You're defending him?" she growled at Edward. "He's the reason Bella left. If it wasn't for him she still be married to you and one of us. Instead, she dead or worse."

"Maybe, but Bella chose to leave." Edward replied. "We could've..."

His sentence was cut off by Alice's cry of pain. I looked up to see she had dropped the ground grabbing her head. She looked like she'd be crying if she could be. The second she screamed, the rest of the family had converged around her.

"Al, what's wrong, love?" Jasper said trying to stop. Alice just kept screaming and wimpering.

"What are you seeing?" Carlisle asked coming.

"Not seeing. Feeling." Alice whimpered. "Bella."

Then she went quiet.

**A/N: Don't you just love cliffhangers. I know I do. Let me know what you think. **


	6. What's Lost Can Be Found

**A/N: I'm slowy starting to figure this story out and I'm so excited. I have two versions of what I want to happen, but I haven't decided which I'm going to use, so I'll just keep writing and see what happens. **

**ALICE**

"Because, dog, our kind have one rule." Rosalie spoke up for the first time, since we began the meeting with Sam and Jacob. She started stalking toward him as she continued speaking.

I wasn't sure what to think about her reaction to the things Jacob had said. Yes, his attitude about the situation was frustrating, but he didn't understand the circumstances. All he saw was us refusing to help Bella out of a potentially harmful situation. We had to make him understand why we couldn't do it.

I knew someone had to do it, but Rosalie wasn't the best person to do it and we all knew that. Under normal circumstances, she wasn't good at controlling her tempering. Now, with everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks, it threatened to boil over. I hoped it wouldn't happen now, we didn't need her making mistake that she'd regret.

_"Edward, make sure she doesn't hurt him." _I thought desperately as she continued her advance. Edward nodded his head a fraction of an inch without turning to look at me.

"Keep the secret." she continued speaking in her threatening tone. "We broke the law by allowing Bella to find out about us. The minute we did, Bella became a liability in the Volturi's eyes. The obvious solution was to kill her, but she made a deal that she'd become one of them instead. The Volturi accepted the deal and she had every intention of following through. Then some stupid mutt who couldn't keep his tail between his legs got in the way."

By the time she finished her speech she was standing right in front of him. I couldn't see her face, but I was pretty sure that her teeth were bared and she was glaring. Jacob shape had started to blur. Somebody had to do something or this was going to end in a fight.

Before I could intervene, I was struck with the familiar feeling I got just before a vision. The feeling that something very important was about to happen.

Forgetting about the potentially lethal scene playing out in front of me, I prepared myself for the vision. It never came. Instead, my skull felt like it was about to explode. I dropped to my knees clutching my head and screaming.

I didn't understand what was happening. I felt like someone was beating me in the head with a sledge hammer. It was so bad that I barely registered the pain in the other parts of my body. Those parts felt like I was being stomped on.

"Al, what's wrong, love?" Jasper, who had dropped to my side, asked.

I tried to answer, but I had a quick flash of Bella, chained to a metal table, with man standing between her legs. She was begging for him to stop whatever he was doing. The image was gone so fast that I could've imagined it, but I was sure that I hadn't.

"What are you seeing?" Carlisle asked kneeling beside Jasper.

"Not seeing. Feeling." I managed to whimper this time. "Bella."

I barely got her name out, before everything faded to black.

**JACOB**

The second Alice stopped screaming, Sam and I joined the tight circle of Cullens surrounding her. Weird as it was, we had developed some friendly feelings toward the family after everything that went down with that bitch Victoria and her army of nasty newborns. We were both generally concerned for her welfare.

She was lying limply on the ground with her eyes closed. Jasper had placed her head in his lap and was attempting to rouse her. She wasn't moving or responding to his attempts. If I didn't know any better, I would've said she was unconcious. But I was pretty sure that couldn't happen to vampires. Then agan, I was only an expert on killing them.

When his attempts to rouse her didn't work, Jasper turned to Carlisle, who was already on the ground examining his daughter.

"Carlisle, what happened?" he asked desperately. "Why isn't she moving?"

"I'm not sure, son." Carlisle replied with a shake of his head. "My best guess is that her powers were somehow over exerted, but I've never seen a vampire actually pass out before."

He was staring at her and touching her with shaking fingers. I could tell that he wasn't sure what to do or how to tell if she was alright or not. It's not like vampires show any normal signs of life when they're concious. How was he supposed to know if she was okay while she was unconcious.

"But Carlisle, she wasn't trying to use her powers at all, just now." Edward stated, only slightly panicked. "In fact, she was worrying about Rosalie and Jacob fighting.

He was kneeling beside Jasper with his hand on the blonde's shoulder, but staring at Alice while biting his lip. He was trying to offer Jasper as much comfort as possible, even though he was as nervous about the whole thing as Jasper had been.

"Doesn't matter." Carlisle answered, giving up on trying to check the girl's vitals. "Whatever happened, she mentioned Bella. She's so attuned to Bella now that she doesn't have to be trying to see her to get a vision. You remember when Bella jumped off the cliff, right?"

"Yeah" Edward answered, "But if Bella's dead, then..."

He let the words hang because everyone in that clearing knew it was possible for her to still be alive. Yet, we all knew death was the better alternative.

"We'll figure out the hows and whys later, Edward." Rosalie snapped after a couple seconds of silence. "I think getting her to wake up should be the priority, don't you?"

"Of course, Rosalie." Edward snapped back. "But it might be easier if we knew what happened first."

Rosalie glared at him for a moment.

Thankfully, the ringing of my cell phone broke the furious tension. I muttered an apology and pulled the phone out as Carlisle continued his conversation with Alice. The phone was flashing Brady's name.

_"Great, what now?" _I thought with a mental sigh as I flipped the phone open. "I hope, since you're not on patrol this afternoon, that you've got some good news for me, man."

Brady sighed. Not a good sign.

"How bad?" I asked.

"I'm not sure." he answered. "It might not be bad at all. I just figured you'd want to hear it from me, before you saw for yourself."

I let out an irritated sigh. This was one thing that I always hated about Brady. He couldn't just tell you something. He had to talk in circles for ten minutes before he said what he had to say. I so did not have the patience for that right now.

"Look man, this really hasn't been the best week and today isn't getting any better, so would you please say what you gotta say and get it over with." I sighed trying not to sound too upset with him. It wasn't his fault that my life was one pile of crap after another.

"Monica and I went to breakfast in Port Angeles this morning." He explained. "On the way home, we happened to drive by Chief Swan's old place."

"So?" I asked going past irritated to angry. "It's a small town. You just can't avoid some places. Besides, no one lives there."

"Actually, that's why I was calling." Brady responded . His tone told me that I was scaring him a little. God, I needed to get it together. "When we drove by, there was a car in the driveway and lights on in the house."

His words froze me in my spot. I couldn't believe my ears. No one had lived there since Bella left. I knew the Cullens had hired someone to go in there and clean once every few weeks and they continued to pay the bills. I think Edward was hoping Bella was going to come home on her own one day. He didn't want her to come to a disgusting mess.

Charlie had left Bella the house in his will, but when she left, she just left it to sit. There was never a For Sale or Rent sign in front of the house. It seemed she didn't want to live there, but didn't want to give it up either.

It had gone all those years without anybody living there and now suddenly there was life. It didn't make any sense to me. Did Bella know something was going to happen to her and tied up all of her financial affairs before that time came. Or did she just leave the house to someone? Someone who seemed to want to live in the hole in the wall town of Forks? It didn't make sense to me, but it surely bothered the hell out of me.

"You still there, Jake?" Brady asked and I realized that I had been silent for a long time.

"Yeah." I answered trying to stay calm. "Just shocked is all. Thanks for the heads up. I'll tell Sam and see what we should do."

"No problem, man." Brady said. "If you want, I can do some sniffing around. Just between me and you, of course."

"No." I told him. As much as I wanted to know what was going on, I knew it wasn't a good idea to send him over there. If they saw him, it could mean another giant wolf scare. I didn't want my brothers to have to worry about being shot, because I was being selfish. "I don't wanna risk you being seen. I'll talk to Sam and we'll get back to you."

"Okay, man." He answered.

"Good looking out, though, bro." I told him. "Sam and I will be home shortly."

"Alirght. See ya then, man." he replied and I heard his line click. I sighed and snapped my phone shut.

When I turned back, the Cullens were gone and Sam was standing a good fifty feet from me. I had a feeling he was trying to give me some privacy. I didn't understand why. I mean, he was going to hear all about the conversation the minute we phased anyway.

"Where'd the Cullens go?" I asked as I walked back over to him shoving the phone back in my pocket.

"Carlisle wanted to take Alice home." Sam answered with a sigh. "He said he might be able to help her if he had some supplies and if those don't work, then he's hoping to find something in one of his books."

I nodded.

"Do you think it really had something to do with Bella?" I asked him.

"I honestly don't know." Sam answered. "I did, however, get the impression that Carlisle knew more than he was letting on."

Strangely, I had the same feeling.

"But why would he keep things from us?" I asked giving him the benefit of the doubt.

"I don't know." Sam replied with a sigh. "Maybe to keep somebody from doing something stupid."

I was only slightly offended by his accusation, mostly, because I knew he was right. However, I did have other things on my mind.

As curious as I was about what had actually happened to Bella and wht was going on with the Cullens, whoever was now living in Chief Swan's house seemed more important, somehow. I didn't understand why, but I just knew I had to figure it out.

"So who was on the phone?" Sam asked sensing my preoccupation.

"Brady." I answered, looking up at him. "He and Monica went by Chief Swan's house and from the look of things, there's someone living there now."

"What?" Sam asked. "Nobody's lived there since Bella left."

"That's exactly what I said." I responded. "According to Brady, though, there was a car in the driveway and lights on inside."

Sam simply nodded, but I could tell that he was just as concerned as I was about the news. Nearly two decades of running the pack together made him easy to read.

"What should we do?" I asked.

"Well, we don't have any reason to be concerned." Sam said. "For all we know they could have a legitimate reason to be there." I gave him a do-you-really-believe-that look. "However," he continued pointedly. "With the mysteries surrounding Bella's disappearance, two of us should keep an eye on the house, just in case."

"I agree." I replied with a small smirk. "Should we tell the Cullens?"

"If they can have their secrets, then we can have ours." Sam replied with a smirk of his own.

**ALICE **

I woke up in my own bed, confused.

First, I had atually woken up. I hadn't woken up in over five decades. Hell, I hadn't slept in over five decades. Second, I felt like someone had dropped an anvil on my head. That's how hard it was pounding. I didn't understand that, either. Vampires are immune to human illnesses such as headaches. And finally, I was in my own bed with no idea how I got there. The last thing I remember was being in the meadow praying Jacob and Rosalie wouldn't get into a fight.

"You're awake." Jasper worried voice cut into my thoughts. "Thank God. I thought I lost you somehow. Are you alright?"

"I think so." I answered even more confused about why he was so worried. "I feel like someone took a sledge hammer to my head, though."

I started to sit up, but Jasper push me back down gently yet firmly.

"Just relax for a minute." he told me. "I'm going to run and get Carlisle. I'll be right back."

He ran out the door. I pushed myself into a sitting position and leaned against the headboard. I was still extremely confused. I didn't even understand how I got here.

Jasper returned with the entire family in tow before I had too much time to think about it.

"Alice, sweetie, are you alright?" Carlisle asked as he walked over to sit next to me on the bed. It looked like he was restraining himself from fussing over me.

The rest of the family followed him in and scattered about the room. They were all staring at me with anxious relief. I found myself wondering again what happened.

"I don't know." I answered reaching for Jasper's hand. He was next to me in a flash giving me what I needed. "What exactly happened?"

"What do you remember?" Carlisle asked looking just as confused as I was feeling.

"Rosalie got in Jacob's face and I was worried they were going to get into a fight. So I thought Edward should keep an eye on Rosalie's thoughts." I answered slowly going back through the everything. "Then I got a strange feeling. Almost like I was missing something very important and very urgent. And then my skull felt like it was about to explode."

"Did you see anything at all?" Carlisle questioned.

"I'm not sure." I answered, closing my eyes and trying to remember everything. "I remember pain and not just in my head. My whole body felt like it was being trampled on."

Carlisle nodded.

"Before you passed out," he continued. I noticed the uncertainty when he said the words passed out. "You mentioned something about Bella. Did you see anything about her?"

"It could've been my imagination, but before everything faded, an image of Bella, laying on a table with a man standing between her legs flashed through my vision. I'm not sure what it could mean."

"Is there anything else?" Carlisle asked calmly.

"No." I shook my head. "Everything went black and when I came to, I was here."

Carlisle nodded taking everything in. He stared down at the bed for a long moment without speaking. I imaged he was trying to put everything together. I was still extremely confused about what happened, but he looked too preoccupied to explain.

The silence stretched on for a long time and I was starting to get very anxious. I wanted to know exactly what happened and if it was could happen again. I hoped not, though. Headaches were the worst human illness a person could ever get.

I knew Carlisle needed to sort things out first, so I didn't say anything, no matter how desperately I wanted to.

"Do you really think that's the case?" Edward's voice finally broke the silence. I assumed he was answering someone's unsaid theory.

"I don't know, son." Carlisle answered shaking his head. "It would make a lot of sense, though."

Rosalie cleared her throat reminding them they weren't alone.

"Sorry, guys." Edward said and had the decency to look embarrassed. "Why don't you explain, Carlisle?"

"Based on what Alice told me and my knowledge of vampire gifts, I believe Bella is still alive." Carlisle explained pinching the bridge of his knows. "She either doesn't want to be found, or someone doesn't want us to find her."

"What makes you say that?" Edward asked. His voice didn't tell give away any hint of what he was feeling about Bella possibly being alive. I was sure he didn't want to get his hopes up about it.

"There are some vampires out there who can shield themselves and others from another vampire's ability." Carlisle answered with a sigh. "Like all of our abilitites, this defensive gift manifests itself in different ways. I am sure however, that whoever Bella is with is shielding her. I can't be sure if it's because she wants to be or not, but someone is trying to hide her from us. That much I'm sure of."

"That's a great theory, Carlisle." Emmett stated when Carlisle finished his expalnation, "There's just one problem, Alice saw her. If she's being shielded, then the shield isn't doing a very good job."

"Not true, Em." Edward answered thoughtfully. "According to Alice, she only saw a quick flash of Bella." He gave me a look and I nodded in comfirmation. "That means the shield is good. Probably as good as Alice. However, as Carlisle already pointed out, Alice is extremely attuned to Bella. That means, as good as this particuliar shield may be, he or she can't completely shield Bella from Alice."

"Right." Carlisle nodded in confirmation. "If this shield has blocked Bella's escape from the fire from Alice's vision, then this vampire has quite an amazing talent. However, Bella and Alice have such a strong bond, that she can't be completely blocked out."

"If that's true, then why didn't the vision come through completely?" I asked even more frustrated than I had been when I broke up.

"Because whoever this vampire is, is strong enough to fight that bond." Carlisle answered.

"So that's the reason for the power overload." Jasper injected as if it was all starting to make sense. "Whoever has Bella doesn't want us to see, but Alice's connection with Bella won't allow that to happen."

"Exactly." Carlisle said. "Alice was supposed to see whatever is about to happen, but somebody doesn't want us to. It's the worst kind of power struggle."

"So the question now becomes, who is she with and why don't they want us to find her?" Esme stated quietly.

Nobody answered, but I knew everyone of us knew the answer. Unfortunately, there was nothing any of us could do about it.

**ROSEMARIE**

"This doesn't make any sense." I cried out in frustration as I stared at the article on my laptop.

It was six hours and half a dozen boxes after out meeting with my mom's old friends and the only thing of use that Erick and I managed to find was a program from my mother's graduation. It contained a list of all the graduates and there future plans.

While I was almost positive this Jacob Black that everyone kept mentioning was my father, I was hoping that we could track down Edward Cullen. I really wanted to talk with him and find out what happened with him and my mother. Did they get a divorce because she had an affair? Or did something else happen between them?

As important as it was for me to find out about my father, it seemed just as important to find out about Edward. I felt the puzzle wouldn't be complete unless I found him.

Reading through the program, I had discovered that he and my mom planned to attend Dartmouth together. I knew my mom was pretty smart, but I had no idea that she had been considered ivy league material. The news made me even more proud of her than I already was. More importantly though, it gave me an idea of where to look for Edward.

I had never been good with computers or doing searches and Erick, the computer whiz was busy making us dinner. I simply googled Edward Cullen and Dartmouth. What I found made me question if I did it right.

"What doesn't make sense?" Erick walked in handing me a plate of spaghetti, his speciality.

I took it with an appreciative smile.

"Listen to this:" I told him reading what was on my computer screen. "Edward Anthony Masen Cullen will graduate from Dartmouth today with the highest honors."

I stopped there not really caring about the rest of the story.

"So, the guy's smart." Erick answered with a shrug. "It shouldn't be that much of a surprise. You mom wasn't dumb, after all." I sighed.

"The fact that he was smart isn't what doesn't make sense, Erick." I replied rolling my eyes. "The article was published June 8, 1985."

"What?" Erick asked placing his plate of spaghetti on the bed. "Are you sure it's him?"

He had come to kneel beside me on the bed. "I mean, it could be a relative or something?"

I shook my head and scrolled down a little.

"There are two pictures with the article." I told him. "The guy is identical the one in my mother's wedding picture. Besides, if it was a relative, it would be a father or grandfather, but the time lines don't work out. It has to be the same guy."

"But Rose, if he graduate in eighty-five then he would be at least twenty years older than your mother." Erick said in the same ton of disbelief.

"I'm away of that, Erick." I said. "But they guy in the wedding picture doesn't look a day older than the one in these pictures. And if my mom and her friends went to high shool with him, then how was he graduating from Dartmouth in 1985."

"Are you sure the article isn't a fake?" Erick questioned.

"I'm almost positive. It's from Dartmouth's official site. I went through all of the records searching the name Edward Cullen. I don't see what the point of publishing a fake article would be."

Erick didn't say anything to that. He simply pulled the lap top from my hands and started typing something.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Doing a massive search for Edward Anthony Masen Cullen." he answered. "If I look in the right places, I can find anything you won't on this guy. A birth certificate, police records, family history. Hell, I could probably even find his current place of residence."

"How do you know all of that?" I asked shocked. I had always known that Erick was good with computers. I had no idea he could virtually stalk someone.

"What do you think I did for the eight weeks a year you were at summer camp?" He asked with a laugh. "I simply put my intelligence to good use. It could take a while, though. So why don't you eat and I'll let you know when I find something."

"But your food is going to get cold." I protested. I hated when he put my wants before he needs.

"Hand it here." he replied. "I can eat and do research at the same time. Besides, I really wanna find out who this weirdo is."

**A/N: Well, what did you guys think. I didn't want to keep you waiting for it as long as I did. Unfortunately, I had a difficult time with P.O.V.'s and the order in which I wanted this chapter to go. Let me know what you think. **


	7. In Too Deep

**A/N: So I wasn't planning on doing Bella's side of things. I thought it would be fun to see Bella's story unfold through what little bits that Alice gets from her vision. However, I had someone suggest that it would add more to the story if I talked a little more about what actually happened to Bella. The more I though about it, the more I agreed. So that's why I'm doing this chapter. I hope you like it.**

**BELLA**

**FLASHBACK...**

_It was the first Saturday of the month and Rosemarie and I were suppose to go on our monthly mother/daughter trip. It was something that Renee and I did a lot when I was growing up. We wouldn't go anywhere too special. It was usually the park or museum or something. It didn't matter where we went or what we did, we just enjoyed our time together. _

_Rosemarie and I were supposed to go to the beach today. Yes, it was somewhere we could go everyday if we wanted, but it was Rosemarie's favorite place. She said it made her feel free. I always told her that I felt the same way. In reality, I hadn't felt free since the day I left Forks and everyone I loved. _

_After that day, Rosmarie was the only one that really made me feel anything. Mostly, she just reminded me that there was something left to live for. As much as I hated myself for what I had done to Jacob and Edward all those years ago, Rosemarie was there to remind me that something wonderful came out of all that pain. While I never had the guts to tell him about her, I had always hoped they'd one day meet, so he could see the wonders that I saw every day. _

_Unfortunately, we had to cancel our beach trip, on account of rain. I had thought about going anyway. Believe it or not, I missed going to the beach in freezing, rainy weather. However, Rosemarie was just getting over a cold, so I settled for making her a special dinner. _

_Grilled chicken in sauteed onions and mushrooms with my special macaroni and cheese. It had been her favorite meal since she was five. We had it at least once every two weeks. _

_Usually, she helped me make dinner - she wanted to learn to be as good a cook as I was - but tonight, I told her that I was going to make everything and she should just relax. She was sitting on our enclosed porch reading one of her vampire series. _

_She had grown up to enjoy books as much as I did, something that I didn't mind too much. We would spend hours just siting in the living room reading together. Her love affair with vampires, however, scared the hell out of me. She had been obssessed with them since she was ten. _

_It worried me, because I knew the truth about vampires and that knowledge was dangerous. I wouldn't have put it past Rosemarie to figure it out on her own, especially if she accidentally stumbled across one like I had. What could I say, though. _

_"Don't read those books, because you may one day discover vampires actually exist and that could get you killed." _

_Hearing that would probably make her more interested and she'd find out on purpose. I just had to hope she never ran into one. _

_I was in the kitchen chopping the onions for the chicken and humming my lullabye when she walked into the kitchen. I could tell by the look on her face that she was beyon terrified. It scared me because I had never seen that much fear on her face before._

"_Mom, there are four people at the door." she said. "I don't know what they want, but I have a really bad feeling about them." _

_I froze upon hearing her words. Her fear had suddenly seized me. I didn't know how, but I knew who was at the door and what they had come for. All of the bad luck Forks, Washington had brought me had finally caught up to me in Jacksonville, Florida. _

_I stared at my baby girl and wondered what was going to happen to her without me. Who would take care of her? How would she survive? I knew in my heart that I should've called Jaocb. Now, it was too late. I could only hope Erick would take care of her. _

_I realized my eyes were filled with water just in time to stop the tears. I had to take care of this and make sure that my little Rosie never found out about any of this. I had plenty of time to go to pieces during this meeting. _

_I took a breath, swiped at my eyes and grabbed the keys of the counter. I was going to keep her away from this part of my past for as long as I could. _

"_It's okay, sweetie." I said trying to sound like nothing was wrong. I knew I failed miserably, but figured it wouldn't matter in a few hours. "I'll take care of it." I put my arm around her and walked her back toward the living room."In the meantime, do you think you could run to the store for me? I need some milk for the macaroni and cheese" _

_I knew we had a whole refrigerator full of it, but Rose understood that when I sent her on pointless errands, it was because I needed privacy. I knew she wouldn't argue. _

"_Sure." she replied taking the keys._

_We made it to the front door and my suspicions were confirmed. The four people were exactly who I thought they were and I was going to be dead, before Rosemarie returned. I could handle that as long as nothing happened to my little Rosie. _

"_Jane, Alec, Felix, Demitri, how lovely to see you all again." I said adopting a tone of false show wasn't for my unwanted guests, but for my daughter. I didn't want her to be afraid for me. Somehow though, I sensed she didn't believe it. "Please, come in." I gestured toward the living room, but kept myself between them and Rose. "Lizzie was just leaving." _

_I didn't want to give them her real name, just in case they hadn't done their research before they came by. I knew it was a slim chance, because Aro was thorough and he'd know about every move I made since I left Forks, including my daughter. _

_As Rose walked out the door, though, they didn't give me any indication that they knew who she was. I stood at the door and watch Rose walk to the car and pull out of the driveway. It wasn't until I saw her turn the corner that I turned around to face my fate. _

**END FLASHBACK **

"Are you awake, Pet?" Aro whispered in my ear as he stroked my hair. I had to force myself not to flinch at his touch. That would have upset him a great deal and get me punished worse than my body could handle.

"Yes, Master." I whispered trying to talk around the lump in my throat. I couldn't block out the thoughts of what I did with him the night before and wanted nothing more than to cry. However, I knew that was an act worthy of punishment as well.

Apparently, the whispered response wasn't enough for him, because his grip tightened on my hair as he twisted it around his hand. I let out a whimper of pain, but didn't fight it. Fighting only pissed him off more - Caius was the one that got off when I fought him.

"What did we talk about on your first day, Pet?" he growled in my ear.

"That when you ask a question you want a clear, concise, and audible answer, Master." I answered as loudly as I could in my current position.

"Exactly. Do you feel your answer to my first question fit the criteria." he asked and pulled a little harder.

"No, Master." I responded as tears blurred my vision.

"You're correct. It didn't. So let's try that again, shall we." He released my hair and I reached up to see if he pulled any hair out. He, however, swatted my hand away, so I let it fall, not wanting anymore trouble. "Now, are you awake, Pet?"

"Yes, Master." I said as loudly as was appropriate for the setting.

"Excellent." he responded. "Because I want the usual, before you start your day."

"Yes, Master." I replied as I slipped under the blankets to fulfill his request.

Fighting the tears, I took his cock into my mouth and began sucking it the way he had taught me. Yes, I had done this the one time with Jacob and the few times with Edward on our honeymoon, but apparently, every guy liked it done differently. It had been a little over two weeks and I was still struggling to keep the brothers varying tastes straight. And I had the whip and belt marks to prove it.

When he was satisfied, he grabbed me by the hair again and pulled me back up to him. He pushed me so I was laying on my back on the bed and he was straddling me. I did my best to keep myself composed, because I knew what was going to happen and I hated it.

"Those better not be tears, I see in those eyes, slut." he said as he nipped at me ear. "You know what'll happen if I catch them falling."

I nodded as I swallowed the lump in my throat. He backhanded, just hard enough for it to hurt, but not cause any damage.

"That wasn't an answer, bitch." he growled.

I quickly recovered myslef, praying no tears had escaped. I didn't think that I could endure another crying punishment. I had already been given two this week.

"I meant, yes, Master, I know what will happen if you catch me crying." I said as composed as I could make myself.

"Good girl." he whispered condescendingly before leaning down to kiss me.

I opened my mouth, because I knew I'd be in a hell of a lot more trouble if I denied him access. I didn't kiss back, until he placed his hand over my nose, that way I couldn't breathe. The only way he would let go was if I started kissing back. I hated that he knew exactly what he needed to do to get what he wanted from me. I gave it to him, though, and he released my nose.

He moaned into the kiss as he shoved his tongue further down my throat. I did my best to kiss him back to his satisfaction, but it never seemed to be good enough. He would simply sigh into my lips and move on to kissing other parts of my body.

Since I wasn't allowed to fight, I'd just lie there and take it, trying my best to block it out. I'd try to imagine that it was Edward, sometimes even Jacob. Anyone would be better than three monsters that I was stuck with. And when that didn't work, I'd remember the reason why I was doing this. My beautiful little Rosie.

**FLASHBACK**

_"You have a beautiful daughter." Demitri commented before I could get all the way around. _

_When I finished the turn, I noticed that they had already made themselves at home in my living room. Jane and Alec were sharing the couch while Demitri sat on the back of my armchair and Felix leaned against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest. _

_If I hadn't been so panicked about Demitri's comment, I would've been angry that they thought they could just come into my house and take over like it was theirs. However, there disregard for such trival human things such as manners was the least of my worries. They knew who Rosemarie was, that meant that I had bigger problems. _

_"Who says she's my daughter?" I said, praying that if I didn't admit it, then they wouldn't press the subject. _

_Jane let out a dark chuckle and glared at me with that sadistic smile of hers. I knew what she was doing, but we both knew it wouldn't work. It was my turn to chuckle. _

_"It didn't work eighteen years ago, Jane, what makes you think it's gonna work now?" I asked with a cocky smile. _

_"You, human, are in no position to be cocky." She replied with another sweet smile. "In case you haven't noticed there are four vampires in your living room." _

_"You seem to forget, I spent a couple of years practically living with seven." I answered. "Your meer presence doesn't do anything for me. Besides, you're under the impression that I'm the same scared little teen I was the last time I met you. In case, you hadn't noticed, I've grown up and matured. I'm not afraid of you Jane and nothing you can say or do will make me afraid of you." _

_Jane laughed again and shook her head. _

_"That's really funny, Bella, because you know what I see when I look at you?" she said in condescending tones. "I still see a weak, pathetic little human who's in way too deep surrounded by a bunch of vampire who could tear her and her daughter limb from limtb if they wanted to." _

_I knew it would do no good to deny it any longer. They knew who Rosemarie was. I didn't know how, but they did. _

_"Leave Rosemarie out of this." I growled. "She's inoccent." _

_"Maybe so," Jane said with a smile. "But, being your daughter, it's always possible she could find out the secret. It would be best if we eliminated the risk now, so we won't have to worry about it later. I'm sure you can understand?" _

_I saw something like malicious humor flash in her eyes and I knew she was serious about killing Rosemarie to. I couldn't let that happen. She shouldn't have to die for my mistakes or my lies. She was gonna be sixteen in a few months and had her whole life ahead of her. She didn't need it ripped away because I was an idiot. _

_"Please, Jane, don't hurt her." I said as tears formed in my eyes. "Do what you want with me, but leave her alone, please. None of this is her fault." _

_Jane chuckled again, but nodded. _

_"Sit down, shut up, and drop the attitude and I'll think about letting her live." she responded with a another angelic smile. _

_It wasn't exactly the one hundred percent reassurance that I was looking for, but I'd take what I could get at the moment. If there was even a small chance of saving Rosemarie, I would take it, no matter what the cost. _

_I sighed and made my way over to sit in the armchair, that Demitri was sitting on the back of. He smiled at me and I could see the lust and hunger in his eyes. I sat one the edge of the chair wanting to keep a good distance between his teeth and my neck. _

_"Good human." Jane said with a smirk. I opened my mouth to let out a nasty reply, but her threat silenced me. "Now, let's have a little chat, shall we?" _

_I nodded knowing that I didn't have much of a choice. _

**END FLASHBACK**

When Aro was finished with me, I was sent back to room for the alloted hour before I started my chores. I was required to spend that time cleaning up and nursing my wounds from the night before. Those were usually spent with Aro, Caius, Marcus, or whichever member of the guard that felt was deserving of a reward.

I managed to hold myself together until I got back to my room and in the shower. The no crying rule wasn't just applied when I was in the bedroom with Aro. I wasn't allowed to cry ever. Aro seemed to feel that since I had chosen this, I didn't have the right to cry. He said I just needed to take it like the little bitch I was. I wondered if he realized exactly how much this choice had cost me.

The shower was the only place I felt safe going to pieces in this horrible place. Every single perso in the whole damn place wanted a chance to punish me and they could all hear through walls. The spray of the shower made it hard for them to tell if I was crying. It wasn't a completely full proof plan, but it served its person.

I allowed myself only fifteen minutes to cry, then I pulled myself together and finished getting ready for the day. I was schedule to clean Jane's quarters this morning and she gave me hell if I was late.

Once out of the shower, I didn't even glance at my reflection in the mirror. I knew what I'd see there: The battered and bruised shell of my former self. The self that had shone so brightly in Forks. There was nothing left of the girl I was back then. And I hated myself more and more every day for it.

I pulled out a pair of ratty old sweat pants and a t-shirt from the battered dresser that I had been given and put them on. Thankfully, I only had to wear the disgusting fetish wear at night when I was with one of the boys. Thanks to the contract, I had gotten regular clothes priveleges. Unfortunately, nothing could get me out of the collar that marked me as the Volturi's property. I sighed and put that on as well.

Ten minutes before I had to be before Jane, I sat down on my bed to perform my final morning ritual. I sighed and picked up the picture that was sitting on the little table next to my bed. Before I was brought here, Jane told me that I could bring one thing as a memento of my daughter. Everything else would go up in flames. It only took me to seconds to decide on the picture.

It was one of me and Rosemarie on the beach. It was her fourteenth birthday and we had just spent the day swimming.

Rose had pulled out her camera phone and told me it had been the best birthday ever and wanted to remember it. I put my arm around her and smiled. She hugged me back with a huge smile on her face and snapped the photo.

The next mother's day, she presented the picture to me in a frame that she decorated herself. The picture was still in the frame. And I couldn't help but smile through the tears as I stared at the picture and remembered that day.

I wondered, as I always did what my baby girl was doing and prayed that Aro would keep his end of our deal.

**FLASHBACK**

_"Aro wasn't happy to find out that you left the Cullens with no knowledge of where you went." Alec said speaking for the first time since they entered the house. "He wanted to keep tabs on you, in case you didn't make the change. We didn't even know where to begin to look. If we had known you had family here, we would've looked right away. Unfortunately, your high school records, mysteriously disppeared, so we had nothing to go off of. _

_"We kept searching, though. Anywhere we thought you might be, but when you didn't go back to college or go on any major trips, we had no hope of finding you. And had all, but given up." _

_"So how did you find me?" I asked calmly. I hadn't been at all surprised that they would be looking for me. I knew I had broken my promise to Aro and it was only a matter of time before he found me to punish me. I was just surprised it took them so long. I figured they would have more resources than college records and plan tickets. _

_"The same way we discovered that you had a daughter." Demitri replied and I could hear the smirk in his voice. "Did I mention that she was beautiful?" _

_I knew that tone. It was the same tone Edward had used when speaking to me on our honeymoon. The lustful one that says, I want you desperately and I don't care if it's wrong. He usually only used it before sex. _

_"Keep your hands and teeth off my daughter." I growled at him. _

_"So long as you behave yourself." Demitri replied patting my shoulder. _

_"Moving on." Alec sighed. "Your daughter's high school Italian Culture Club is planning a trip to Italy in six months." _

_"How did you know that?" I asked completely frozen. I didn't think twice when she asked my permission to go on the trip. I had been planning on letting her go into the belly of the beast without thinking she wouldn't be coming back. Why had I been so stupid to think that it wasn't a possibility. _

_"When planning our meals, we try to find large group trips." Jane answered with another sadistic smile. "You know, school trips, missionarys, things like that. Anything that makes it easy to frabricate some kind of freak accident. Our specialty is school trips. The managled bodies make it easy to blame a bus crash or something." _

_My stomach rolled when she said that. She talked so casually about destroying human life and covering it up like it was no big deal. Had she even thought about the families that lost their loved ones in that manner? Even worse, she was talking about doing that to my daughter. I had to swallow the vomit to keep up with the conversation. _

_"We have humans working with the travel companies." Jane continued smiling at my reaction to her sadistic story. "They make sure we get a list of names of everyone coming into the country. It surprised us to find a Swan on that particuliar list, but when we did Aro asked us to come check it out. We've been watching you for weeks now." _

_"So what now?" I asked knowing what was coming. "You kill me and make it look like some kind of freak accident and move on with your lives as if it's no big deal." I shrugged my shoulders. "I'll even make it easy for you." _

_I pulled my hair out of the way and laid back in the chair exposing the right side of my neck to Demitri. _

_"Tempting," Demitri responded running his cold hand over my neck. "But Aro doesn't want us to kill you, he wants us to offer you a deal." He patted my shoulder again. _

_I sat up and turned around and stared at him in utter shock. What could Aro possibly want from a human, other than their blood? Especially from me. _

_"What kind of a deal?" I asked slowly. _

_Demitri nodded to Felix who moved away from the wall. He came to stand in front of me and pulled an envelope out of the inside pocket of his coat. He tossed it on the table and then sat on the edge of it. I stared at the envelope apprehensively unsure of what to do. _

_"Read it." Jane said as if she was talking to a five year old. I glared at her before I picked the envelope up and pulled several folded pieces of paper out. I unfolded them and began to quietly read it. _

I, Isabella Marie Swan, swear my life, my blood, and my service to Aro, Caius, Marcus and their coven, now and for my lifetime, that they may command me in all things.

_I stared at the words for a long time unable to believe what I was reading. It seemed as thought Aro wanted me for his guard. I didn't understand why. There was nothing sepcial about me._

_"So let me get this straight," I said wanting to be sure before I made any kind of a decision. "Aro wants me to sign up for the guard." _

_Felix laughed and shook his head. _

_"Not quite." he responded with a smile. "As interested as he is in your ability to block some vampires abilities and what it will mean when you become a vampire, he is more interested in your human assets, if you know what I mean?" _

_He finished his speech and looked me up and down with a lustful smirk. I looked into his deep crimson eyes trying to make sense of what he was saying. It didn't take me long to get the message. His eyes held the same look of lust and desrie with an underlying hint of cruelty that Demitri had since he walked through the door. _

_It was the same look that Aro, the brothers, and every male in the room had during my first trip to Volterra. I knew everyone in that room had been dying to get a piece of me i every sense of the word. I didn't understand why, but I shuddered to think what would have happened if Alice and Edward hadn't been there to protect me. _

_As I started to realize what this was all about, I found myself wishing that I hadn't abandoned them. They would've down everything in their power to prevent something like this. Now, I was on my own and at a loss for what to do. _

_Jasper had told me all about the southern wars and how the vampires would keep human pets. Hearing the stories all those years ago, had made me sick for days. I couldn't get the images of those poor humans out of my head. I was plagued with nightmares for weeks. I didn't think there could be anything more horrifying than that. _

_Felix's words and that first sentence of the contract made me realize I was wrong. There was one thing more horrifying than hearing stories about those human pets. And that was being one of the stories. _

_I couldn't help, but laugh. Did Aro really think I was going to sign this? Aside from not wanting to be his groveling little pet, I didn't want to let my daughter down that way. If I was going down, I was going to fight or die. I wasn't going to give him any power over me. _

_I threw the papers back at Felix and attempted to stand up. Demitri, however, prevented that, so I settled for crossing my arms. _

_"Aro must have gone off the deep end if he thinks I'm going to sign that." I said defiantly. "If he wants to make me his little pet, then you'll have to take me back to Volterra kicking and screaming, because I'll die before I willing become his slave." _

_I saw anger flare in Felix's eyes and I thought for a second he ws going to hit me. Instead, he picked up the papers and shoved them back in my face. _

_"Do continue reading, m'dear." he said with a sneer. "I'm sure by the time you finish, you'll find at least one reason to reconsider your decision." _

_The tone of his voice was so threatening that I took the papers back from him and did as he asked. Below the first sentence was a list of many clauses. I read through slowly and carefully through each one. _

_By the looks of it, if I agreed to sign the contract, I would be treated better than Aro's previous pets had been. I'd be given food and water on regular basis and be allowed to sleep in a bed. In fact, Aro was willing to give me a bedroom of my own complete with a toilet and a shower. I'd even be allowed to wear clothing and wouldn't have to sleep in a cage. _

_While it was interesting to see how far Aro would go to get me to sign, but none of that made me want to change my mind as Felix seemed to think it would. In fact, it made me want to decline the offer all the more. That was until I got to the last sentence on the last page. I read the words and froze in fear and anguish. _

Upon my agreement to this arrangement, Aro that neither he nor his brothers or any member of the guard will harm Rosemarie Elizabeth Swan, unless she discovers the secret of the existence of vampires.

_I shook my head and tried to fight the tears that were forming in my eyes. I wished Aro was sitting right in front of me, because I would've ripped his head off. I couldn't believe that he would back me into a corner like this. Anyone who had spent any amount of time watching us, would've known that I would've done anything for my daughter, including become something as degrading as becoming some one's pet. _

_"No!" I all but yelled. "Rosemarie is staying out of this." _

_"If you sign, then she will." Jane replied with a smile. _

_"And what if I don't?" I challenged. I knew I would, of course. But I wanted to find out as much as I could about Aro's plans before I did._

_Felix smiled his twisted lustful smile and slid around the end of the coffee table to get right in my face. _

_"That's when things get fun." he said. "Demitri, back there, will get to have his fun with your beautiful daughter while you watch." I flinched at the thought of Demitri getting anywhere near Rosemarie and the papers shook in my hand. "As for you, Aro wants you for a pet and Aro gets what Aro wants, no matter what. That means, we will take you to Volterra kicking and screaming. If that happens, the pampered little life that you read about, will no longer be on the table. You will be treated just like any other pet." He made a sound in the back of his throat and looked me up and down. _

_"Under those circumstances, I'd give you six months." he continued sneering. "Maybe a year, if you're lucky. If you be a good little bitch and sign the papers, we may get five or six years out of you. But, hey, that's your choice. Either way, we'll have our fun." _

_I looked back at the paper in my shaking hands and could no longer fight the tears. I knew I didn't have a choice. I didn't want to leave Rose alone in this life with no one to turn to. God, why didn't I call Jacob when I had the chance. It was too late now. On the other hand, I couldn't let her die, especially at Demitri's hands. She was barely sixteen and had her whole life ahead of her. She didn't need her inoccence shattered in such a terrible manner. _

_"Is this even legal?" I asked after a minute. It, of course, didn't matter, but it seemed like the right thing to ask. _

_"It wouldn't hold up in a human court." Jane answered in her sweet voice. "However, vampire contracts aren't like human ones. Aro has already signed and once you do, it becomes binding. If either of you break you side of the contract then your life will be forfeit." _

_Her explanation made sense, but did nothing to comfort me. Once I signed, there was no going back. I would do it, though, for my little girl. _

_"Pen." I said holding out my hand. _

_Felix pulled one out of his pocket and handed it to me. I was reaching for it when something occured to me. _

_"Why bother with the contract, at all?" I asked. "I mean, if he was just going to take me anyway. Why didn't he just kill Rosemarie and stick to his old way of doing things. Surely, that would be more fun for me." _

_"You're right, it would." Alec answered with a shrug. "However, while the kicking and screaming things would be infinitely more amusing, it would be easy to get you to Italy if you came willingly. That way no one would suspect anything. As for you daughter, by signing this and keeping her alive, he's garaunteeing that you will obey him for as long as he likes. Because if you break your end of the deal, he'll make you watch him kill her then he'll kill you." _

_While that answer was enough to scare her into being completely obedient to Aro for the rest of her life, she knew there was something else. Something a million times more imprtant to Aro. _

_"No, that's not it." I said shaking my head. "There's gotta be more to it than that." _

_"If there is, it's none of business." Jane sneered. "Your business is your daughter and whether or not you keep her alive. So sign the damn papers or let Demitri have his fun." _

_I glared at her but took the pen from Felix and signed my name. It was a little sloppy, because my hands were shaking so bad. It would be good enough for Aro, though. _

_I folded the papers back up and shoved them back in the envelope before handing them back to Felix. _

_"So what happens now?" I asked as Felix placed the papers back in his pockets. "Does Rosemarie just come home to an empty house and be left to wonder if she'll ever see me again." _

_"Actually, no." Jane responded sounding like this was a huge disappointment. "Since you've agreed to come willingly, Aro is granting you two weeks to set your affairs in order and make sure you daughter is going to be taken care of, say your goodbyes. That sort of thing. Demitri will, of course, stay behind, in case you decide to run. If you do, he has orders to kill your daughter and bring you to Italy kicking and screaming."_

_Demitri gave me a smile that said he hoped I tried to run. With Rose's life hanging in the balance, I knew there wasn't a chance of that. _

_"That's it. We'll be back in two weeks." Jane smiled her evil smile. _

_Jane, Alec, and Felix simply walked out the door, but Demitri came to stand in front of me. _

_"Enjoy your last days of freedom, m'dear." he whispered. "I can't wait to get my hands on you." _

_He tweaked my nose and followed the others out. I was left alone to wonder if I had done the right thing. _

**END FLASHBACK**

I stared at the picture trying to draw my strength by reminding myself that I was protecting my baby girl by doing this. It was the only thought that got me through the days and night. I gently touched the glass with my finger traces over her face and whispered a quiet pray.

"Please, protect my baby girl. I can get through this if I know that she is safe. Please lead her to her father and help them to accept and love each other. She needs him, since I can't be there for her. Give her the strength to get over my death and move forward with her life. She's the only reason I'm here. And please remind her that her mother loves her very much."

I then placed the picture back on the table with a heavy sigh before heading to Jane's room hoping someone was listening to my prayers.

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? It took me three days to write this chapter, because I wanted to get it perfect. I hope I have succeeded. Please review and tell me what you think. **

**Also, now that I have officially revealed that Rosemarie is indeed Jacob's daughter. I have a question for all of you: Should I make her a werewolf or just keep her a normal human? I'm open to any suggestions you may have. **


	8. The Space Between

**A/N: I'm sorry this story is taking so long to get out. The muses have decided to take a long break, so I have the frustrating task of trying to figure things out without them. I think that I'm doing a decent job, it's just taking longer than usual without them. Anyway, on with this story. **

**ROSEMARIE**

The morning after my discovery of the Dartmouth article, I woke up in my mother's old bed with no memory of ever going to bed. I laid there for a minute, listening to the soft pitter-patter of the rain on the window, as I tried to remember how I got into bed.

I remembered sitting on the bed talking to Erick about my mother and her life in Forks with this Edward guy. While we were both sure he would turn out to be some kind of con artist or pedophile, I had quite the imagination and couldn't help letting it run away from me. In the beginning, I had spun a beautiful story based on one of my favorite books, The Time Traveler's Wife (A/N: Never actually read it), but by the end it had turned into something right out of the vampire books that I cliung to so desperately.

As much as I wanted it to be true, I laughed the theory off as Erick reminded me that vampire's only existed in one's imagination. I would learn, several days later, that Erick wasn't a very good authority in supernatural matters.

When Erick said the search could take awhile, I thought he meant an hour or two tops, but I remembered that he was still searching well after one in the morning when I decided to curl up with my head in his lap and he began humming the song my mom used to play for me before bed.

It was a beautiful lullaby. Slow and sweet. I always asked my mom who the composer was, because you had to be like a million shades of amazing to capture such beauty and love in just one song. Her answer was always the same: Someone very special to her. She never elabotated and that always made me sad. Unfortunately, the C.D. she had it on was lost in the fire, but I suppose it wasn't as goe as I thought. I didn't think that Erick paid that much attention to it.

I must have fallen asleep after that, because I couldn't remember anything else. Erick, ever the gentleman, had probably carried me to bed before continuing his research in another room. I wonder if he had given up yet.

I sat up with a big stretch and looked at my phone. It was ten o'clock in the morning. Wow, I must've been exhausted. Even on a bad day, eight thirty was sleeping in for me. I climbed out of bed and walked downstairs.

Erick was sitting on the couch with the laptop balanced on his knees and feet resting on the coffee table. He was staring intently at the screen as he set a mug of coffee on the end table and sighed. It looked like he didn't like whatever he had found.

"Did you even go to bed last night?" I asked. He sighed and looked over at me.

"Nope."Erick replied with a smile that almost reach his eyes. "You know how obesessive I can get about some things."

"Yeah." I replied walking over to the couch. "I remember the Super Mario World 8 challenge. It was the most boring month of my life, by the way."

"Hey, no one said you had to sit there and watch me play." he responded.

"I was twelve and you were my only friend and bodyguard." I replied. "What else was I gonna do? Go to the park and let Madison Mason beat me up?"

"Not my fault you were such a geek."

"Jerk." I shot back and threw a decorative pillow at him.

"But you love me." He answered swatting it away effortlessly.

"Sadly, I do." I sighed and leaned over the back of the couch. "So did you find anything?"

"Actually, I did. You might want to get a cup of coffee and sit down, because this isn't going to be pretty."

The tone of his voice told me that I wasn't going to like what he had to say. My heart rate picked up as I headed to the kitchen. Caffiene had always been my best friend in times like these. It helped me deal with the stress and anxiety of these situations. It calmed me down and helped me think rationally. That was strange because it seemed to have to opposite effect on other people.

As I poured my coffee, adding generous amounts of cream and sugar to it, I prepared myself for what Erick had found in his reasearch. Little did I know, all the coffee in the world wouldn't help me deal with what I was about to find out.

I carried the mug into the living room and plopped on the couch with a heavy sigh.

"Okay, I've got my coffee, now spill." I said.

"After you went to bed last night, I mad some interesting discoveries." He clicked on one of the many tabs he had opened on the internet. A copy of a driver's license appeared on the screen. Edward Cullen's handsome smiling face was in the corner. "This is a copy of his driver's license. It was issued in 2005 when, according to this, he was sixteen. However, that means, as it also shows that he was born in 1989. This means that he was graduating from Dartmouth four years before he was born."

"That doesn't make sense." I said.

"Neither does this." Erick clicked another tab and up popped a very old looking death certificate.

It looked as though it had been hand written and scanned on to the computer later. I could just barely make out the name: Edward Anthony Masen. My heart jumped into my chest. I had to remind myself that it was possible this couldn't be the same man.

"According to this, Edward died of the Spanish influenza in Chicago in 1918 when he was seventeen." Erick continued. "And here is where things get even more interesting. The doctor who pronounced him dead was none other than Dr. Carlisle Cullen."

The hope of this it not being the same Edward died right there. Cullen had been the name Edward had taken here in Forks, so there had to be some kind of connection.

"But how can we be sure that it is the same person?" I asked. "It could just be a coincedence."

"That's what I thought, so I ran another search and found this." He answered and clicked another tab.

This one revealed a copy of a Forks's hospital ID tag. The picture in the corner of the picture was of a handsome blonde man. He was as pale and beautiful as Edward and had the same dark circles under his eyes. His eyes were even the same beautiful butterscotch color that Edward's had been. The name beside the picture read Dr. Carlisle Cullen. The issue date was several months before my mom came to live in Forks. The tag said he was thirty-two, but he didn't look older than twenty-five and even that was stretching it.

I shook my head in utter shock unable to believe what I was seeing. True, it could still be a coincidence, but it would've been too much for Edward Anthony Masen to be in Forks with the doctor who was supposed to have watched him die. It made it even worse that Edward was now using the doctor's last name. There was something wrong with this and I knew exactly what it was. The rational part of my mind didn't want to believe it, though.

"They can't be the same people from 1918." I said. "It's impossible."

"I know, but I've gone through every bit of information that I could find on both of them." Erick said and started pulling the tabs at random. "Pictures, newspaper articles, driver's lisences. Everything matches. The only thing is the birthday changes on every single driver's license."

"What about death certificates?" I asked, still in disbelief.

"I could only find the one for Edward, but there wasn't anything for Carlisle." Erick replied shaking his head. "I couldn't even find birth certificates for either of them. I found plenty of passports, though and those birthdays are fudged everytime too."

I didn't know what to think, feel, or do. Jessica had said that the Cullen family had a lot of secrets, but this was way beyond any stretch of the imagination. According to the sources, both these men should be dead, but one had been working in the hospital sixteen years ago and the other had been in love with my mom. Did she know about this? Did she know why?

I put my head in my hands and screamed in frustration.

"Damn it, mother!" I yelled. "How could you do this to me? How could leave me like this? I need answers and all this trip has given me is more questions. I need you to help me!"

"Rose, honey, breathe." Erick said and laid a hand on my shoulder. "We'll figure this out. It'll be okay?"

I looked at him with tears of fury and cofusion in my eyes. I didn't want to yell at him because I knew he was only trying to help. I didn't want him to think that I didn't appreciate it or anything, but I really wasn't in the mood for one of his pep talks.

"I need some air." I said and stormed out into the rain without even grabbing my coat.

**SETH **

I laid beside my sister keeping a close eye on the Swan's old house. It had been the strangest week of my life and considering the fact that I was a werewolf, that was definitely saying something.

First, we find out that Bella Swan died in a house fire in Jacksonville, Florida after spending sixteen years wondering what happened to her. Then, Jacob and Sam returned from a meeting with the Cullens to tell us that it's possible Bella hadn't died in the fire. The alternative, however, was something that none of us wanted to considered. Now, Brady tells us that someone is living in the Swan house after it has been vacant since the day Bella left.

It was for that reason that Leah and I had just relieved Collin and Brady from there shift keeping on eye on the house. We had no idea who was living there or why. It had been sixteen years since any of us had heard from Bella and we had no idea who she was friends with or what she had told them. We had to make sure that they weren't out here to expose werewolves or vampires. If the humans found out about either of us, then it could mean problems for both sides.

Most of us doubted that was the case. We knew how deep Bella's loyalty to both sides ran, but we had to be sure. Besides, we were all a little curious about Bella's life since she left Forks. Maybe, whoever was staying there could help us figure things out.

Unfortunately, we had been watching the house for nearly twenty four hours and so far no one had come out.

_"This is stupid." _I heard Leah thinking in a lazy drawl beside me. _"It's probably some distant relative that she left the house to. They're probably just getting it ready to sell. I can't believe I'm losing even more sleep over this." _

_"Would you quit whining, Leah?" _I replied with a mental sigh. _"I'm the younger sibling, it's supposed to be my job. Besides, for all we know, they could be in there planning to come kill us all." _

_"They'd never get close enough." _Leah growled.

_"Whatever." _I gave her a huge eye roll. _"If you're that tired, then take a nap and I'll wake you if I need you." _

_"And how exactly would I explain that to Sam if you end up dead?" _

_"Then shut up and deal. I'm really not in the mood for you anyway." _

_"Let me guess, you're still upset about the parasite lover? You shouldn't be, she got what she deserved." _

I let out a deep growl and turned to glare at her. I couldn't believe she said that. Yes, I knew she hated Bella, but I thought even she had her limits. The entire pack, even those who hadn't known Bella well, felt some level of pity. Nobody deserved to die the way Bella had. I refused to think about what could be happening if she hadn't been dead.

It made me even angrier to note that she had been sympathetic toward Jacob the whole week. Never once did she make cruel comments about Bella or think about her deserving what she got around him. She told him that it was all going to be okay and he'd get through it.

With the rest of us, she kept up the whole suck it up attitude and it pissed me off.

She rose and let out a similiar growl of anger. Being older, she stood a foot or so above me, but I wasn't afraid of her. I had taken her several times over the years. I could do it again if I had to.

_"Do you really want to test that theory, Seth?" _she challenged. _"Because after this week, I'd be happy to lay into someone right now." _I stood down, but not because I was scared. I just didn't want to fight with my sister at the moment._ "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm supporting Jacob and trying not to antagonize him right now because he needs it. He loved and lost Bella in the same way I loved and lost Sam. And I'd feel just the same way if it had been Sam who had died." _

_"And what about the rest of us?" _I growled. _"We cared for her too. Don't we deserve some consideration?" _

_"Maybe, but I can't be Miss Sunshine to everyone. Nice me has her limits and Jacob needs her more than the rest of you." _

_"Whatever, Leah." _I sighed and returned my attention to the house.

I really didn't feel like arguing with her today. This week had already taken too much out of me. I just needed a bed and a little less noise in my head. I sighed and flopped back down on the floor.

_"I'm sorry, Seth." _She thought after a minute. _"I know you cared about her as much as Jacob did. I may not have liked her and have my own opinions on her death, but I should show you, at least, some compassion. You are my little brother, after all." _

_"It's ok." _I thought back. _"I know it's been a stressful week for all of us. Sleep deprivation makes us all a little nasty."_

She let out a mental chuckle and laid back down beside me.

_"Thanks." _she thought.

I saw the images in her head of her normal behavior and new it was because I didn't point out that she was nasty most of the time.

I sighed and laid my head in my both fell into our seperate thoughts then. We could both hear what the other was thinking but we ignored it.

I found myself wondering, as I often did, what Bella was thinking when she decided to leave. Whatever guilt she had felt over her situation with Edward and Jacob, she had to have known that those horrible Volturi people were going to come after her for not becoming a vampire. Why would she have risked that? I just didn't understand.

It was a question that had been running through my head since the Cullens delivered the message of Bella's death. Why did she leave? And what would've happened if she had stayed? Would we have been able to protect her? Would she still be alive?

_"Don't go there, Seth." _Leah thought directly to me. _"Bella Swan made a decision and now we have to live with the consequences of that decision. Nothing any of us could've done would've made her stay. You know that." _

Before I could respond, the sound of the Swan's front door slamming shut caught our ears and we both jumped up ready to get a full report.

A girl came running down the front steps. She looked no older than fifteen or sixteen and had long jet black hair. It was hanging down her back in a loose braid with bits sticking out. It looked like she had slept with it that way.

She was wearing a tight pink camisole and a pair of baby blue pyjamma pants. If I had to guess, I would say that she just woke up, but I couldn't be sure. She had on no coat, which left a lot of her skin exposed. Her complexion was a few shades lighter than mine. She looked like a caucasian with a really great tan, only it was natural. I couldn't see much of her facial feature from the distance Leah and I were standing, but she looked very upset about something.

When she reached the last step, she took off running into the trees toward, Leah and I.

_"We better retreat a little." _Leah thought starting to back away. _"We don't want her to run into us." _

I heard what she was thinking and knew she was right, but I couldn't make my body move. The girl, whoever she was, was extremely upset about something and that's all that seemed to matter at the moment.

_"Seth, let's go. She's going to see us." _Leah thought and this time shooved her head against my shoulder. That woke me up and, against my better judgement, I moved back into the forest another fifty feet.

The girl didn't stop until she was standing a few feet away from us. At which point, she flopped onto the ground and started sobbing into her heads. As we watched her cry, I felt like something was tugging me toward her. There was something inside me saying that I needed to try to make her feel better. And that it didn't matter that I was in wolf form. I needed to go to her.

_"No, Seth." _Leah screamed before I could take a step. _"What you need to do is stay right here and just watch. We don't even know who she is. Your sympathetic nature is going to get us all killed!" _

_"It's more than..." _I started but trailed off as the girl's scent caught my attention. It was like lavendar with just a hint of musk and something underneath. It was impossible, though. _"Do you smell that?" _

Leah sniffed the air in the direction of the crying girl.

_"One of us?" _She cocked her head at me. _"Impossible." _

_"Tell that to her." _I took a step closer wanting to get a better look.

The girl's head snapped up the minute I put my paw down. I looked back at Leah confused. How the hell had she heard me? I was extremely careful not to make much noise as I moved. What a little a I did make would've alerted a vampire, but not a human.

"Who's there?" she asked in a shaking and hoarse voice. I could see her body trembling, even from fifty feet away.

Leah and I stared at each other, but neither of us moved. I could hear her praying that the girl would just get scared and run. Only, she didn't. I slowly turned my head to see that she had pulled her knees into her chest and was resting her chin on them.

It wasn't until then that I got a good look at her face. Her big brown eyes were bloodshot and still flowing with tears. Her rosy cheeks were already stained with them. Her perfectly proportioned lips were swollen from all the crying she had been doing.

Suddenly, everything just fell away from me. I forgot about my pack and even my sister standing beside me. I forgot that I was in wolf form. I forgot that I was suppose to be finding out who was living in the Swan's house and why. None of that seemed important anymore.

The only thing that was important was the beautiful girl sitting in the mud in her pyjamma's, crying her eyes out. The pull towards her that I had been feeling since she came running out the door had become to strong to resist any longer. I found myself walking without giving my feet permission to move.

I barely heard Leah screaming protests at me as I moved toward the girl that desperately needed me.

**ROSEMARIE**

Karl Kraus said that a weak man has doubts before a decision, a strong man has them afterwards. I wondered, as I sat on the cold forest floor, if the same was true for impulsive decisions.

A few moments ago, running out of my mother's house and away from the questions and problems that I wasn't ready to face seemed like a wonderful idea. Now, that I was sitting alone in the forest, unsure of where I was and what was out there, I wasn't so sure.

I, of course, knew how to get back to the house. I hadn't been stupid enough to run a straight line into the forest, but the place was so unfamiliar that I was stupid to come alone. Still, I couldn't go back. Not yet. I wasn't ready to face what was waiting for me there. More questions that I wasn't ready to find the answers to. I just needed to forget about it for a few minutes.

Sitting out here in the unfamiliar forest, and thinking about what animals could come and eat me definitely helped a little. Interestingly enough, the thought didn't scare me as much as it should have. Sure, I wasn't ready to die, especially not by a bear or wolf attack, but I could feel a strange presence that told me nothing was going to hurt me.

Even when I heard the rustle of leaves, I wasn't that worried about what ever it was. When no one answered my call of Who's there, I figured it was just some little bunny or something and went back to wallowing in my own pity.

I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my chin on them. I sat there, staring at nothing while I tried not to think about the things Erick had just showed me and what they could possibly mean. I didn't even want to go there. It would be to horrifying.

I sat there trying to clear my head for a minute or two before I noticed a large animal coming out of the trees towards me. My heart rate picked up and my head screamed at me to run, but my body wouldn't let me. Something inside was telling me that it was going to be okay.

I managed to make myself stand up as the animal-a huge wolf, I now realized-stopped about ten feet from me. My mind was still trying to make my body run, but it just didn't want to make the connection. Instead, I stood there as still as possible and looked him directly in the eye.

As I did, my heart rate slowed and my mind relaxed. Suddenly, I knew he wasn't going to hurt me. In fact, I knew he was only there to protect and comfort me. I didn't know where this knowledg came from, but it was there and I was no longer afraid.

I stood there for a long second just staring at him, unsure of what to do. True, I wasn't afraid of him, but I didn't know if it would be safe to touch him, though. Something inside me was telling me to reach up and pet him to tell him that I wasn't scared, but I, once again, couldn't make my body move.

Before I could decide what to do, the wolf slowly leaned forward and nuzzled his head against my shoulder. I broke then and wrapped my arms around his neck buring my face in his fur. I found myself crying again for some reason.

I suddenly felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders as I stood there clinging to this animal as he continued nuzzling me. His presence didn't help me forget, but it made things bearable. We stood like that for a long time, before I finally pulled away.

"What are you?" I asked in a whisper, feeling only a little stupid for trying to talk to a wolf.

He let out a little whimper and took off into the trees. His disappearance made me feel cold inside. I felt like someone had just taken my heart and threw it across the forest. I dropped to the ground and let out a little sob for the loss of the comfort of his presence.

After a minute, I heard leaves crunching under someone's feet and a familiar voice calling my name,

"Rosemarie!" I smiled to myself. While nothing could compare to what I felt just then with that strange wolf thing, Erick was the next closest thing. "Rosemarie!"

"I'm here!" I called trying to wipe the tears from my eyes. I knew it wouldn't do any good, because Erick knew me well enough to know that crying is what I did best when stressed out and angry.

He came through a little clump of trees and found me sitting on a stump a few seconds later.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked kneeling in front of me and wrapping my coat around me.

I decided not to tell him about my wolf friend. I wasn't sure how well he would take the information. Besides, it felt like a secret between the wolf and I. I didn't want to tell it just yet.

"Yeah," I replied with a smile. "Just a little weirded out."

"I know." Erick replied with a sigh. "Whatever's going on with this guy, we'll figure it out and it's going to be okay."

"I hope so." I told him and laid my head on his chest with a sigh.

"I know it will be." he answered. "Now, let's get you back to the house. It's freezing out here and I have some good news."

He helped me stand, but I was struck with a horrible thought. What if I never saw my wolf friend again? I didn't want to leave this place, because I wouldn't know where to find him. The idea of never seeing him again suddenly felt like the worst thing in the world.

As if in response to my fears, a loud howl sending rent the air. It was full of sadness and longing, but there was a note of comfort in it as well, like a promise. He was telling me he'd be there when I needed him.

_"Don't worry. I'll be back soon." _I thought as I let Erick lead me back to the house.

**SETH**

_"What the hell was that?" _Leah scolded me the second the beautiful Rosemarie, and her friend disappeared back into the house. I found that I was a little jealous of her friend and had to resist the urge to claim what was mine. Knowing she'd be upset, helped keep me from doing it. _"Oh God. I think I'm gonna puke." _

_"What?" _I shot back. She shot me a look that sad think really hard and you'lln figure it out. I stopped and thought for long minute about everything that had just happened in the last five minutes. Then about how horrible I felt now that she was gone. _"I just imprinted, didn't I?" _

_"Yup." _Leah replied with a sigh and I could hear the sadness in her tone. I knew how desperately she wanted to imprint, so she could get rid of her feelings for Sam. Imprinting was supposed to be very uncommon, but more than half our pack had done it already. Leah was really starting to feel like a genetic dead end. I felt bed for her. _"Come on, Seth. I'm right here." _

_"Sorry." _I thought and looked down embarassed. _"So what do we do know?" _

_"Well, we need to inform Sam about this development and find out what he wants to do." _Leah replied. _"The imprint might be beneficial. At least, now we don't have to worry about the two of them hurting the pack. Whatever they came here to do will be effected by the imprint." _

_"I won't use it to spy on her." _I argued. _"Or even to betray her." _

_"I know, that, idiot. But you can ask questions and find out why she came. Maybe even find out why she smells like us." _

_"Right." _I sighed, but something told me this wasn't going to be that easy.

_"It never is." _Leah replied. _"Sam's probably with Jacob, so I'll give him a call and tell him we need a pack meeting. _

_"You do that." _I said. She disappeared into the and as her voice faded out of my head, I thought, _"Don't worry, Rosemarie, I'll be here whenever you need me." _

**A/N: What do you guys think? It was a really difficult chapter for me, but if you all like it, then it was worth the struggle. I do have a couple of notes to make. **

**First, I know it seems weird that the Cullens would leave that much information floating around on the internet, but I have enough computer geek friends to know that nothing is off limits on the internet if you know where to look. **

**Second, yes, Rosemarie is jumping to the vampire conclusion very quickly with that little bit of information, but remember, she's been readin vampire novels all her life and she knows that lying about the age and using fake documents for things is a major vampire tactic. **

**Thirdly, I'm not completely sure if the imprint will work while the werewolf is in wolf form, but I thought it would be a cool scene anyway. Rosemarie's end isn't completely finished yet though. She's going to be seeing him in human form soon. **

**And finally, I don't want anybody to say that it's gross because Seth is old enough to be her father, because it isn't much different from Claire and Quil. It's just that both parties were older when the imprint happened, so it isn't that gross. **

**That's it. Please review and let me know what you think. **


	9. Think I'm Moving, but I Go Nowhere

**JACOB **

My stomach let out a huge growl and I groaned. Sam and I had been in the middle of breakfast when Leah had called to say they had some news about whoever was living in the Swans' old house. It still annoyed me that Sam insisted on having someone stay with me twenty-four seven, but I supposed I couldn't blame him. He was worried and I had given him every right to be. Besides, it was nice to have some company in the house. Since Billy died, I got really lonely sometimes.

It was even nicer when the others brought their imprints. That meant that I had three homemade meals a day. That was a nice change. It made me sad to think that I had lost that because of my obessession with a woman who didn't love me the way I loved her. I could've had a wife and kids by now. Someone to make me breakfast and help me through tough times like these.

As it was, Sam had asked Emily to come over that morning and make us some breakfast. I didn't object, either. Emily was the best cook of all the girls and I couldn't get enough of her food.

"This had better be good." I mumbled. "I really wanted some of Emily's muffins."

Sam chuckled.

"I'm sure they'll still be there when we get back." he told me.

"Not if the others get there first." I said. "Besides, there's nothing like one of Emily's fresh out of the oven muffins."

He just shook his head but I could see a smile on his face.

"It's good to see that you are getting back to normal, again." he told me.

"I'm working on it." I told him with a shrug. "Not completely there, yet, though."

"She meant a lot to you." Sam answered. "It's going to take some time."

I nodded, not completely sure if I wanted to keep talking about it. Thankfully, Seth and Leah came into view then. I couldn't say that they were walking. It was more like Leah was walking while dragging Seth by his shirt. Seth was following along, but looking very reluctant. He looked like a puppy that had just gotten taken away from his mother or something.

"Sorry, we took so long." Leah said as they got within hearing distance. "My little brother here was having a hard time saying goodbye."

"Excuse me?" I asked not sure if I wanted to know what she was talking about.

"It's a long story." Leah sighed pushing Seth into the sand next to me. "Stay." She told him like a human ordering their dog around. Seth glared at her but adjusted himself so he was sitting indian style. Leah sighed and leaned against a tree a few feet from us.

"So what happened?" Sam asked.

"Well, nothing for awhile." Leah answered. "Everything was pretty quiet until about an hour ago. Seth and I were needling each other when a girl around fifteen or sixteen came out of the house."

"The most beautiful and amzing girl I had ever seen in my life." Seth added with a goofy grin. "She had long black hair and pretty brown eyes. Almost the color of chocolate. And a complexion that would make any Florida native jealous."

"Thank you for that wonderful description, Seth." Leah sighed. "Now, can it."

Sam was looking at Seth with a very curious expression on his face. I wondered what he was thinking, because I thought the kid had gone loopy or something. Leah sighed again and looked at Sam.

"Yes, it's what you think." Leah told him. "Whoever this girl is, Seth has imprinted on her."

"You make it sound so bad, Leah." Seth said. "It's the most amazing thing that I've ever felt in my life."

"Yeah, that's great." Leah replied with a nasty sneer. "Can we get on with the rest of the story, because I'd really like to get some sleep."

Sam sighed, but turned his attention back to Leah.

"Okay, go on." he told her.

"The girl came out and she seemed really upset about something. She ran into the woods a few feet from us and just plopped on the ground a few feet from us. While fighting the affects of the imprint, we noticed that she had an interesting scent." Leah continued.

"It was like lilacs and lavendar with a hint of musk." Seth told me. I could see in his eyes that he thought it was the most wonderful smell in the world. "And werewolf."

"What do you mean she smelled like werewolf?" Jacob asked.

"Exactly what he said." Leah told me with an eye roll. "It wasn't as strong as ours, but it was there. My best guess would be that she has the gene, but it hasn't been triggered, yet."

"How is that possible?" I asked Sam completely floored. "I mean, the only wolves that I know of are here in La Push. Are there others out there somewhere?"

"Not that I know of." Sam answered. "The legends are pretty specific to our tribe. And our ancestors didn't believe in spreading the gene too far from the tribe. It would've caused too many problems. If someone changed with no one to tell them how to deal with it, it could mean disaster for everyone."

"So then how could someone outside the tribe have to gene?" I asked.

"It would mean that..." Sam stopped himself as something dawned on him. "That I have to talk to the elders and find out what they think."

"That's not what you were going to say." I pointed out.

"Leah, what else happened?" Sam asked as though he hadn't heard me.

"Nothing, she cried for a bit and Romeo, here," she nodded and jabbed a finger in Seth's direction. "Couldn't control himself. He went to her, in wolf form, and comforted her. A few minutes later, a boy came out looking for her. He called her Rosemarie and she accepted his help. They went back to the house and that was it."

"No they had a small conversation." Seth answered. "Rosemarie said that she was weirded out by something and the boy told her they'd figure out who this guy was and it would be okay. Then he told her that he had some good news."

"This guy? Did they use a name?" I asked.

"Nope." Seth shook his head. "But whatever it was, she was really freaked."

I looked at Sam who was rolling things over in his head. I could tell that he was understanding more than he was letting on. I wanted to ask him what he thought, but knew it wouldn't get me anywhere. I'd just have to read his thoughts the next time we phased.

"So what do we do?" I asked him.

"You, Seth, and Leah are going to go home and get some rest." Sam answered. "And I'm going to go talk to the Elder's. Once I've done that, then we'll meet with the rest of the pack and decide what to do."

"But Sam, I've been resting for a week now." I protested. "I wanna actually do something."

"And when there's something for you to do, I'll let you know. But for now, I need you to go home so I can have a word with the Elders."

"Fine." I responded knowing I wasn't going to win the argument.

I sighed and followed Seth and Leah back to my place wondering when things would start making sense again.

**EDWARD**

"Alright, let's look at the facts." Carlisle stated with a sigh.

It was twelve hours after we decided Bella was alive and someone was trying to hide her from us. We had been discussing the situation all night and hadn't been able to come up with a solution to the problem.

"Bella's house burned to the ground nearly three weeks ago." Emmett said with the air of someone reciting a speech. "While witnesses say she entered the house an hour before the blaze and nobody saw her come out after that, there were no human remains found in the ashes."

"I haven't had a single vision of Bella since the one about the fire." Alice picked up sounding like she was reading from a script. "The one that I did have was half ass. It hurt like hell and all I got was a quick glimpse of someone hurting Bella."

I had a feeling she wasn't being completely honest with us about everything. She had spent most of the last twelve hours stewing in her own thoughts. She was, of course, expertly blocking those thoughts from me by singing Taylor Swift songs in three different languages. She had barely spoken all night and when she did, it was simply to remind us that her visions weren't working.

I had wanted to confront her about what she was hiding, but I didn't know what she was hiding. It wasn't worth starting a fight unless I was sure it was important.

"We think that's because Bella has faked her own death and went away with someone." Jasper continued. I could hear his frustration and hoped everyone else's wasn't going to drive him crazy. "We can't be sure who she went with and if she went willingly."

"Right." Carlisle said. "The question is who did she go with and why?"

"The obvious choice is the Volturi." Esme stated. "Bella was a human who knew about vampires and was therefore considered a liability. We promised to make her one of us, but never followed through with it. They'd want to punish her for breaking her promise and possibly make an example of her. They may even want to go as far as using her to teach us a lesson."

"However, there are some holes in that theory." I said my line through a growl of frustration. This conversation wasn't getting us anywhere. We had been having it for nearly twelve hours and it always came back to this. "Judging from the fact that Bella faked her own death, we can assume that she went willingly, because whoever did it would've needed her cooperartion to get out of the house without being noticed. Bella would've never gone willingly with the Volturi. She would've died before she let them take her prison or even joined the guard. She told me that on several occassions.

"Aside from that, we know that Aro has Renata, but she can't shield from a distance, nor can she shield Alice's gift. If Aro wanted Bella to be shielded from Alice, he would have to have found someone a million times stronger than Renata. I'm sure that if he had, we would've heard about it by now."

"So what are our other options?" Rosalie asked.

As always, the conversation ended with that question. We didn't know of any other ideas of where Bella could be or who she could be with. The Volturi seemed like the perfect choice considering there animosity toward the family and the fact that Bella had known their precious secret. It didn't matter that some of the pieces didn't fit. Enough did for us to be unable to let it go.

Carlisle sighed and put his head in his hands. This was frustrating him as much as it had been frustrating the rest of us. Bella was like a daughter to him and he hated the idea of her being dead or in pain. He wanted to figure out what had happened as badly as the rest of us.

"Okay, let's go back to before the fire." Carlisle said turning his attention to Alice. "Alice, I want you to tell me exactly what you and Bella talked about in your last phone conversation."

**FLASHBACK - ALICE **

_I was sitting in my bedroom reading The Bite Club from the Morganville Vampires series (A/N: It is the 10th book in the series. It doesn't actuallly come out until May 3, though). I had always been fascinated by the modern day vampires. It made my laugh at how close some people came to the truth of vampires. _

_Jasper and the others had gone out for a quick hunt at my urging. I had been expecting a phone call from Bella and, considering the family didn't know that I was still in contact with her, I tried to make sure that I was alone in the house or out on my own when she called. It was easier to hide my thoughts and feelings from the others after the fact. _

_I was just finishing the chapter when my phone started blaring Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl. I snatched my phone off the dresser and flipped it open without even looking at the caller ID. _

_"Hey, Bella!" I practically screamed into the phone. "How are you?" _

_"Hey, Alice. I'm great." she said. Her horrible acting skills told me that she was lying. I didn't press the issue, though. She had probably just had a fight with Rosemarie and would get to the details later. Being a single mom with a teenaged daughter wasn't the easiest thing in the world. That's one of the reasons why I continually begged her to come home. I knew the family would help care for Rosemarie, no matter who her father was. _

_"And how's my niece?" I asked._

_"Rosemarie is wonderful." Bella replied with a half hearted chuckle. It still shocked her that I considered Rosemarie my niece when I hadn't even met the girl. __Hell, she wasn't even technically a Cullen. She was Bella's daughter, though, and that made her family. I was sure the others would've agreed. "She's at dance practice. Did you know she's up for captain next year?" _

_The pride and happiness in her voice as she said that almost masked the sadness and fear. Almost. _

_"Bella, is everything alright?" I asked concerned. _

_"Yeah, it's fine." she said a little too quickly. "Why wouldn't it be?" _

_"I don't know. You just seem a little different today, that's all." I told her. _

_"I'm just a little stressed." she replied with a sigh. "I've been slammed at work this week and Rosemarie has a big dance competition coming up. I've been helping her practice." _

_My psychic sense told me there was more to it than that, but I didn't press the issue. We had been walking on eggshells for a while now. I hated lying to the family, but I couldn't betray Bella. I had begged her to come home over and over again over the years, but her guilt wouldn't let that happen. This was the best compromise, but it was difficult for both of us. _

_"If you came home..." I started, unable to containe myself, but her sigh cut me off. _

_"Don't. Alice, just don't." she said. "You know why I can't." _

_"And you know, both sides would work it out for the sake of Rosemarie." I argued. "Edward misses you. Jacob misses you. I miss you." _

_"Even without the complications, I still can't leave. Rosemarie has her friends here. Rosemarie has a life here." she responded putting emphasis on the word here. "I can't just rip her away from everything that she's ever known, just because I want to go home." _

_"I'm sure she'd gladly sacrifice everything to meet her families." I pointed out. _

_She didn't responded to that for a long moment. From the sound of her labored breathing, she was trying to hold in her frustration. _

_"Look, I didn't call to fight about this." she said after a long moment. I had to give her credit. It actually sounded like she had gotten it together. I knew her well enough to know that she was barely hanging on, though. "I called to ask you for a couple favors." _

_"What kind of favors?" I asked wearily. It wasn't that I minded doing her favors, but keeping her secrets was beginning to take its toll on me. I didn't know how much longer I could keep all of this knowledge from the family. Jasper was already beginning to supsect that there was something wrong with me. _

_"I need you to tell Jacob and Edward how sorry I am." she said choking on a sob. "Tell them that I love them both very much and never meant for it to go as far as it did. I want them to know that I never meant to hurt either of them. Let them know that I hope they can move on from what I've done and be happy." _

_Her words scared me. It sounded like she wanted me to tell Jacob and Edward goodbye. But she had already done that once. Why was she going to do it again? Unless she knew she wouldn't be seeing either one again ever. _

_"Bella, what's going on?" I asked slowly trying not show her how upset I was. _

_"Nothing." she responded, but I think she knew I wasn't fooled. "I just need them to know how I feel about both of them. Just like, I need your family to know how much I love them and appreciate everything that they've done for me. Tell them that it was never my intention to hurt them either and that they'll all be in my heart forever." _

_She couldn't hold back her emotions anymore and I could hear the choking sobs as she continued her speech. My heart broke as I imagined her sitting on the chair in her living room sobbing her eyes out. _

_"Bella, stop it." I said trying to control myself. "You're scaring me." _

_"I'm sorry." she said with a sniffle. "I just miss you guys, alot." _

_"Then just come home." I told her. "You know we'll always take you back." _

_"I can't anymore." she responded and I imagined her stubbornly shaking her head. "I have to stay here, for Rose's sake. She's the only thing that matters anymore." _

_"Okay." I said knowing I wasn't going to win the argument. "I'll do whatever you need." _

_My psychic sense was screaming at me that something was wrong, but if Bella wouldn't talk to me then there was nothing I could do to help her. Unless, I betrayed her secrets, but I knew in my heart that I could never do that to Bella, no matter what. _

_"Thank you." she replied and took a couple of deep breaths. "There is one more thing I need from you, Alice. And I just need you to do it. Don't ask any questions, please." _

_"What?" I asked, trying to contain my own freak out. I just had to get through the conversation then I'd figure out what to do. _

_"When all of Charlie's old accounts were handed over to me, I kept the one in Forks opened." she explained. "It is now in mine and Rosemarie's names. I need you to deposit four thousand dollars a month into that account for Rosemarie." _

_It was that request that told me something was very wrong. I had offered to send her money to help take care of Rosemarie on several occassions. She had always declined, saying that she could handle taking care of her own daughter. I gave up trying after three or four months. If she was willing to ask for and accept money from me for Rose, that meant she didn't plan to be around to take care of her anymore. _

_"Why?" I asked ignoring her request not to ask questions. "Bella, what is going on?" _

_"Alice, please, just do it, for me?" Bella pled and I could hear her control slipping again. _

_"Okay." I said with a sigh. _

_I didn't want to let it go because I knew there was something seriously wrong with her, but I knew she wouldn't tell me. Bella was too stubborn and self sacrificing for that. If she was in trouble, she'd do everything she could to deal with it on her own, so the people she loved wouldn't get hurt. You'd think she would've learned by now that the family would do anyhting, including die for her, but we could never get her to understand. _

_"Four thousand dollars every month into Charlie's old Forks account." I repeated trying to keep my voice normal while I figured out what to do. _

_"Alice, you are the best best friend that anyone could hope to have." she said and I could hear more attempts to keep her sobs under control. "I don't know what I would've down without you over the last sixteen years. Thank you for everything. You have no idea how much I appreciate it all. I love you so much and hope that you and Rosemarie get to meet one day."_

"Bella?" I asked, because it now sounded like she didn't expect to talk to me ever again. I was really worried about my friends well being.

_"Just remember that I love all of you and I never meant for any of this to happen." she cut me off before I could say anything else. "Goodbye, Alice." _

_Before I could say anything else, I heard the line disconnect. I flipped the phone shut and sat there staring at it in shock and fear for a long time. I didn't know what to do. It was obvious that Bella was afraid something was going to happen, but she didn't want to tell me what. I tried to look into her future, but I kept coming up blank. Since Rosemarie was born, it was nearly impossible to see Bella, because Rose had werewolf genes and there future were so intertwined. _

_I called her back, five times, but she never answered. _

**END FLASHBACK - ALICE **

I took a deep breath and told Carlisle and the family about that last conversation with Bella. I was very careful to leave out the parts about Rosemarie and continued translating Taylor Swift's Back to December in Russian so Edward wouldn't find out what I was hiding. I promised Bella sixteen years ago that I wouldn't tell anyone about Rosemarie and I wasn't about to break that promise just because she wasn't around anymore.

I had been carefully considering this, while blocking those thoughts, since we had decided that someone was trying to hide Bella from us. I understood that Rosemarie was the one piece that would complete the puzzle for the rest of my family. They would understand that the Volturi used Rosemarie to make Bella go with them willingly, for whatever reason. It hadn't taken me more than a minute to make that connection, it would probably take them less time than that, especially Edward. He understood Bella's self-sacrificing nature better than the rest of us.

That being said, I had no intention of telling them the truth. Yes, I knew that would mean dooming her to a horrible future at the hands of the Volturi, but I knew in my heart it was what Bella wanted. Rosemarie was the most important thing in her life and had been for the last sixteen years. If she had done this to keep Rosemarie safe, then she wouldn't want anyone to save her.

"And that's it." Carlisle said as I finished answering his questions. "She didn't tell you anything about what had upset her so much or why she was saying her goodbyes."

"No." I told him shaking my head. "I asked her several times about what was going on, but she refused to answer me. All I can tell you is that she was sad and scared. I also got the impression that she was sure she wasn't going to see any of us again."

"Do think that means she knew what was going to happen before she made the phone call?" Rosalie questioned.

"Possibly." Carlisle replied as he comtemplated everything. "What about the money?"

I started to answer that I didn't know, but hesitated. Maybe, I should just tell them about Rosemarie. Maybe then I could convince them to leave the Bella thing alone and put our energy into finding and helping Rosemarie.

I knew, though, Edward wouldn't let it go. If I gave him what he needed to find and save Bella, then he would do it. He would, of course, do what he could for Rosemarie, but Bella would be his top priority. And if Bella had done this to keep Rosemarie safe then she'd want us to forget about her.

"She didn't say what it was for." I said. "Just asked that I depsoited the four thousand dollars a month into Charlie's old account. I told her that I would because it was for Bella. Besides," I added with a shrug. "It's not like we can't afford it or anything."

Carlisle started to say something, but Edward cut him off by standing up and pounding his fists on the table.

"Stop it, Alice!" He practically yelled. "Just stop it!"

"Edward!" Esme reprimanded him sharply. "I understand you're stressed, we all are, but don't take it out on your sister."

"I'm sorry, Esme." Edward said getting control of himself. "But I can't sit here and listen to this anymore."

"Listen to what anymore?" Jasper asked.

"Alice's lies." Edward responded.

"I'm not lying." I growled, but we both knew that was a lie.

He gave me an exasperated look.

"Don't give me that shit, Alice." he spat at me. "I've been sitting here listening to Taylor Swift in every language imaginable, even elfish, for the last twelve hours. If you're trying that hard to block me, then there is something that you aren't telling us. So, spill?"

I knew there was no point in denying it any longer. I had been caught and I knew it. The entire family was staring at me looking hurt, confused, and a little suspicious. I thought again for a second about coming clean, because I hated the idea of the hurting my family, but Bella was my family too, wasn't she? She was my sister and I had promised to keep her secrets. I had never broken a promise in this life and I wasn't about to start now. The others would just have to learn to deal with this.

"I can't." I said looking at my fingers. "There are things that she didn't want you guys to know. Things she made me promise not to tell no matter what happened. I've worked hard to keep those promises and I'm not about to break any of them now."

"But those things could be the key to us finding out what happened and hopefully saving her." Edward arguing still looking angry.

I sighed, because I had been hoping not to have this conversation with Edward. I knew he wouldn't understand. He'd be just like Jacob. All he would see was me not doing what I could to help find and save the woman he loved. He would hate me for it and I didn't want that.

"I'm well aware of that." I started willing to understand. "I'm also aware of what Bella would want in this situation and that would be for us to move on and forget about her. She had her reason for doing what she did and we should respect that."

"No." Edward growled. "That is not true. I know Bella. I know there are no circumstances on earth that would make make her go willingly with those monsters."

"Maybe that was true sixteen years ago, Edward, but a lot can change in sixteen years." I argued back.

"Not this." he replied shaking his head. "She wouldn't want this. She'd want us to do everything in her power to save her. She wouldn't want us to walk away when she needed us most."

He was right. She wouldn't have wanted that, but she would want her daughter to be kept safe. If being were she was was protecting Rosemarie, then she would want to stay there. I wished I could make him understand that, but he just wanted to protect the one he loved.

"You haven't even spoken to her in sixteen years." I told him trying to stay as calm as possible. "You don't know anything about her anymore, but I do. And I know that she is where she is now because she wants to be and she wouldn't want us to get in the way."

"I don't believe you!" Edward spat at me. "She's your sister and she's in pain, but you aren't going to do anything about it, because she wouldn't want us to. They could kill her, Alice! Do want that to happen?"

"Of course, I don't." I practically yelled back rising to meet him eye to eye. "You're right, she's my sister and I love her. I want more than anything to tell you what you need to know to make sense of things. You have no idea how much it's killing me not to tell you everything!"

I paused trying to get my emotions in check. I took a couple of breaths and looked back at the table. I was sure that if I was a human, I would be crying tears of sadness and fury. I felt Jasper put his arm around me and send me waves of comfort. I tried to except them but I was too far gone in my fury.

"Then why don't you?" Edward said still fuming. I snapped my head back up so fast Jasper's hand fell off my shoulders. I looked Edward dead in the eye and growled,

"Because, maybe, just maybe, it's about more than just Bella now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Edward asked still sounding furious.

"Think about it really hard, Edward. I'm sure you can figure it out." I replied in a low growl, then I turned to address Carlisle. "I'm sorry Carlisle. You guys can do what you want, but if it involves trying to save her, then I'm out. It's not what she would want."

With that, I run from the house before Edward or anyone else could make sense of what I had said.

**A/N: I hope you all understood that Alice's flashback was her rememebering it, but not what she told Carlisle and the others about it. Also, I hope Jacob's part came out alright and I hope you all understand what Sam realized about Rosemarie. Finally, I hope Seth reaction to the imprint turned out okay and that Leah's attitude about it works for her character. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think. **


	10. It's More Than You Can Take

**A/N: Sorry this has taken me so long to get done, I had some personal issues to take care of before I could actually sit down and do some writing. I think my head is clear enough for this now. There is going to be a lot of P.O.V. jumping in this chapter. I'm sorry if it gets confusing. **

**ROSEMARIE **

"So you said you had some good news." I said once Erick had me safely back in the house, wrapped in a couple of blankets.

Interestingly enough, I wasn't so much interested in what the good news was, I just needed the distraction. For some reason, my heart was still feeling the loss of my giant wolf friend. In fact, I don't think I've felt this horrible since the first week after my mother's death. I felt as if I had lost another part of myself when he ran away into the trees.

I needed Erick to give me a something else to focus on. Hopefully, in time, that horrible feeling would go away, as long as I didn't have to think about it.

"Yes, I do." Erick replied, sitting next to me and placing a bowl of Lucky Charms, my favorite cereal, on the coffee table. "You should eat something, though. This much stress isn't good on an empty stomach."

I wasn't hungry, but I knew he'd never tell me the news until I started eating, so I put a spoonful of the cereal in my mouth. It felt a little dry and mealy on my tongue, but I forced myself to conitnue eating it as I looked at Erick expectantly.

He smiled and shook his head, but picked up his laptop.

"While you were in the forest blowing off your steam, I managed to find more detailed information about Edward and Carlisle Cullen." I put my spoon down and nodded for him to continue. He looked pointedly at the bowl and I sighed but took another bite. "Carlisle is married to a woman named Esme and Edward is their adopted son, one of their five adopted children. The others include, Alice and Emmett Cullen and twins: Rosalie and Jasper Hale.

Their isn't much information about them, but I ran all of their names and it's the same for all of them. Tons of false documents and in the few pictures that I can find, though they are years apart, none of them seem to get any older."

"I thought you said good news?" I said around a spoonful of Lucky Charms. "All I've heard just makes things sound worse."

"I'm getting to the good news part." Erick replied pointedly. I rolled my eyes, but nodded for him to continue. "I found their address for when they lived in Forks. I'm not sure if it's current or not, but it's the only one I could find for them. We could go there and do some poking around."

"And end up arrested for trespassing?" I asked indignantly. "I don't think so. Besides, if the still live there, what are we gonna say?"

"Do you have a better idea?" he asked closing the computer with a sigh.

I was about to shake my head, but then I rememebered my mother's letter to me. I had gotten so lost in the search for this Edward Cullen guy, that I forgot about the most obvious solution. We could've already had the answers that we were searching for.

"I think it might be time for a trip to La Push."

**BELLA**

"Aro says you can have the day off." Jane said shortly as she dragged me back to my room.

It was difficult to keep up with the annoying and cruel vampire after my long night with Caius. He had kept me tied up with my ass in the air most of the night. He said that it was easy access for him. It left me extremely sore, but Jane didn't give a shit. She hated me more than the others did and did everything in her power to make sure that I was constantly in pain.

"Damien has seen something very important and Aro wishes to discuss it with us?"

Damien was Aro's resident psychic. It had taken Aro years to find him, but when he finally did, Aro didn't let him get away. Damien's gift made what Alice could do look like a parlor trick. Both could see the future, but while Alice could only see the effects a person's decision had on their future, Damien could see every possibility. He could tell you what decisions needed to be made to make what outcome and how another person's decision could effect the outcome. He was virtually omniscient. Nobody knew how he ended up with such a powerful gift, but Aro made sure it was his.

I didn't know what exactly he had done, because Damien had been a part of the Volturi for at least ten years before I came to stay here. I knew it was something horrible, though, because I could see it in Damien's eyes every time he looked at me. He was haunted by something.

I had wanted to ask him about his past, but I was afraid to. While he had never done anything to hurt me, he never went out of his way to help me either. I wasn't sure where we stood and I didn't need another enemy in this place. I figured it was best for me to just keep my mouth shut and let him deal with it on his own.

"What did he see?" I asked without thinking. Before I even realized my mistake, I felt a stinging sensation in my cheek and was falling to the floor. It was only after I hit it and looked up at Jane's stance that I realized she had backhanded me. She was looking down at me with narrowed, furious eyes.

"That's is not of you business, human." she growled condescendingly. "All you need to know is that Aro has given you the day off because he has business to attend to. If he wants to give you details, he will do so when he sees fit. Until then just do what you're told. Now, get up."

I learned in my first week here that you didn't mess with Jane, so I scrambled to my feet and followed her the rest of the way down the hall without another word. When we arrived, she shoved me into the room.

"Someone will be around to bring you food in a few hours." she sneered. "I suggest you clean up and get some rest. You won't be given this opportunity again for a long time." She slammed and locked the door leaving me alone in silence.

**ALICE**

I ran until I found my favorite spot in the woods. A beautiful weeping willow beside a babbling brook. There was just something so comforting about sitting under the shade of the tree while listening to the sounds of the river flowing. Sometimes, I'd like to close my eyes and just imagine how wonderful it would be to be that water. To be free without a worry in the world. To be able to flow wherever I wanted, whenevener I wanted. I wouldn't have to worry about keeping secrets or breaking promises and hurting those I loved. It would all just go away.

I sighed and leaned my head against the tree. Just disappearing into the water was never going to happen, though and I had some important decisions to make. I knew I couldn't keep Rosemarie a secret from the family for much longer. Especially when Bella's life hung in the balance. Still, I couldn't break my promise to Bella. I failed as her best friend in so many ways over the last sixteen years, I didn't want to fail her in this. It was too important to her.

I sighed and pulled my knees to my chest as I continued to consider my options. It all came down to who I was most loyal to and that was a question I couldn't answer.

I had been so deep in thought that I barely noticed the attempted emotional climate change, before I heard the one voice that could talk me through anything,

"Mind if I join you?" Jasper said cutting through the weeping leaves in front of me.

"Of course not." I replied with a smile. "You know I always enjoy your company."

He smiled and sat beside me at the base of the trunk. I sighed and leaned into him and he responded by putting his arm around my shoulders and kissing my head.

"What's going on, Al?" he asked after a minute. I knew that question was coming, but I hadn't yet decided if I wanted to tell anyone or not. I shook my head and bit my lip.

"It's not really my secret to tell." I answered, stalling for time.

"I understand. We all do." Jasper replied. "But you have to understand Alice, Bella isn't here to tell us about it. She faked her death and ran off with vampires who are possibly hurting her. We just wanna understand what happened. Why did she go with them? And why do you think that she doesn't want to be saved?"

His words made sense to me. After everything that happened since Bella left Forks, especially in the last three weeks, they had a right to know. Maybe the truth would give them some closure and help them move on.

If my family had been the only other factors, I would've blurted everything to Jasper right then and there, but there was so much more to it, than them. There was Jacob. Sure, he had a right to know that he did have a daughter out there. One who had lost her mother and needed someone to take care of her for the rest of her life. But this wasn't the way for him to find out. It shouldn't be while he was facing the facts of losing Bella forever this time.

Then there was Rosemarie herself. I knew Edward well enough to know, that he wouldn't just leave it alone. He'd do everything he could to find and take care of her. He'd feel like he owed it to Bella because he couldn't protect her. If Edward suddenly appeared in her life, it would shake her world worse than her mother's death. I didn't know how she would react.

"Al, talk to me?" Japser pleaded feeling my ever growing nerves and frustration.

"I want to, Jazz." I said trying to make him understand that I was stuck. "You have no idea how much I want to. How much I've wanted to for the last sixteen years. But I can't. It's just so complicated."

"Why is it complicated?" he whispered stroking my hair.

"Because if I talk now, it's gonna be more than just Bella that gets hurt." I tried to explain. "Bella made me promise to keep this secret so she wouldn't hurt everyone anymore than she already has. If I tell on her, it'll hurt the three people that she loves most in the world. And I couldn't do that to any of them, especially not Edward." Or Rosemarie, but I couldn't say that part out loud.

As I finished the speech, I felt another vision coming on. I braced myself, because I didn't know if it was going to be about Bella or not.

"I don't..." Jasper started, but never got to finish.

Just like before, my head burst into pain matched only by the vampire transformation. I didn't give into the pain this time, though. I knew it could've been something important about Bella, so I forced myself to see through the pain.

"Alice, what's wrong?" I vaguely heard Jasper's voice and felt him shaking me.

I shook my head and signaled for him to stop as I forced myself to concentrate on recieving the vision. It was difficult to fous through the pain, but I finally got something.

_Bella was lying motionless on the floor. She was paler than ever before and there was a puddle of blood just above her head. From the matted look of her hair, it appeared that she had some kind of a head wound, but I couldn't be sure. _

_Aro, Caius, and Marcus were standing over her looking extremely satisified with themselves. There were quiet murmurs going around the room, but I hardly paid attention to them. I was too focused on Bella. _

_"She's fading quickly, Aro." Caius said softly. "If you're going to do it, you need to do it now." _

Before I could make sense of what Aro was saying, I felt a hard mental shove and found myself, once again,. sitting under the weeping willow beside Jasper. My head felt like someone had dropped an anvil on it, but at least I managed to stay conscious this time. Whoever Aro's new shield was, he or she was strong. Nobody could pull me out of a vision when I was halfway through it.

Jasper was looking at me with concern and the slightest bit of fear. He understood what had happened, but didn't know what kind of an effect it would have on me.

"Al, are you alright?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know." I responded still lost in my vision.

The Volturi had almost killed Bella and were planning on doing something with her before she died. The only thought that came to mind was making her a vampire. But why? I had thought that Aro would only want her for his pet. If he had wanted to make her a member of the guard, then why didn't he do it from the beginning? Something big must have changed for him, but what? Had it been my decision to keep Rosemarie a secret and not try to save Bella?

"We have to get home, now." I said making my new decision without thinking about it. I wasn't going to let Bella become the kind of vampire that she hated the most.

"Why?" Jasper asked still concerned that I hadn't recovered from my vision.

"Because I have something to tell everyone."

**ROSEMARIE**

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Erick asked for like the milionth time.

It was an hour or so after I made the decision to go to La Push and we were now sitting outside Jacob Black's house. After a quick shower for both of us, I had called Angela to see if she could give us directions to La Push. We decided that we would get there and ask around until we found him. Angela did us one better, she gave us Jacob's address and directions directly to the house.

I hadn't put much thought into what we would do when we got to the house, but I knew it was a trip that had to be made. It was the only way to find the answers to the questions that my mother had left me with.

"Not really." I said with a sigh and put my head in my hands. "But it needs to be done. It might be the only way for us to find out exactly what happened when my mom was here in Forks. Besides, my father has a right to know about me. And now that I'm here, it seems wrong to make him wait."

"I understand, Rose." Erick replied with a sad smile as he grabbed my hand. "But you have the right to be comfortable with doing this. You shouldn't have to push yourself into it, because you want answers. Jacob Black will still be here in a few weeks, or months. You don't have to do it if you're not ready."

"I know." I replied, squeezing his hand. "But the truth is, I'm never going to be ready to do this. I need this push or I'm going to run for the rest of my life. And I don't wanna run forever."

"Okay." Erick sighed. "I get it. But if you wanna leave at anytime, then all you have to do is say the words and we're gone. I know it's rude, but your feelings are my first priority. As your father, this guy should understand that this is just as hard for you as it is for him."

"Thank you, Erick." I said and kissed him on the cheek. "I honestly don't know how I would've survived all of this without you."

"It's what I'm here for." he responded with a small wave of his hand. He tried to brush it off as nothing, but I could see his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. I was kind enough to keep that knowledge to myself though.

"Well," I sighed, after taking a moment to prepare myself. "Let's do this."

We got out of the car and walked over to the door. I raised my fist to knock, but the butterflies attacked before I could complete the action. A million thoughts and fears started running through my mind and I wanted nothing more than to just turn around and go back to the car. I looked at Erick in my barely contained panic.

"What if he doesn't like me?" I asked in a whisper. "Or worse, what if he doesn't believe me? Or doesn't want me?"

"How could he not like you? What reason would you have to lie? And why would he not want you?" Erick replied. "You are the sweetest, most wonderful daughter anyone could hope to have. He would be stupid to not want you."

"Right." I answered, only half believing him, as I turned back to the door. I still couldn't make myself knock, though. The act just seemed too terrifying.

Erick chuckled slightly and brought his fist up to knock for me.

**BELLA**

Once Jane left me alone, I took my morning shower and pulled on a pair of tattered, yet comfortable sweats before crawling onto my mattress and cuddling with my picture of Rosemarie. It didn't take long before I fell into the first peaceful sleep that I had since my arrival in Volterra.

I wasn't sure how long I was asleep before I felt someone tugging roughly on my hair.

"Wake up, human." Demetri's horrid sneer reached my ears. He was the only member of the guard that I hated almost as much as I hated Jane. He was the roughest and most inconsiderate of them all. Compared to my other wake up calls from him, this one was gentle. "Aro wishes to see you."

"He said I had the day off." I replied to groggy to think properly.

It was only after I was slammed against the wall with Demetri's hand around my throat that I realized my mistake.

"First of all human," he growled right in my face. He was squeezing just enough for me to fear the loss of air. "It is not your place to speak or argue with anyone. If I tell you that Aro wants you, you're suppose to respond by asking when and where. Secondly, I'm well aware of the orders he give a couple hours ago, but, apparently, he has changed his mind and that's all the explanation you need."

I glared at him when he finished his speech, but knowing the only way to get him to let me go, I sighed and said,

"I apologize for speaking out of turn in such a disrespectful manner, sir. It won't happen again."

"It had better not." he growled, but released me. I slid to the floor on shaking legs and took a moment to get my bearings back.

"When and where does my Master wish to see me?" I asked staring at the floor.

"The conference room." Demetri replied in a tone that said he'd rather not be bothered. "Now."

He walked over and pulled my leash off the hook in the corner, and came to hook it around my neck. I was confused, but didn't try to stop him. I would've gotten into a shitload of trouble if I had.

"Excuse me, sir." I said in a small voice. He gave me an irritated look, but nodded for me to continue. "If I'm going to see Master shouldn't I change?"

He smirked, but shook his head.

"What you're wearing is just fine for what he wants." Demetri responded and lead me out of the room.

I followed him down the hallway trying to understand why Aro would want to see me in the middle of the day while I was wearing old sweats.

**EDWARD**

"I think we should take a little break." Carlisle said after Alice's little outburst. "It's been a long and stressful couple of weeks for everyone. And our recent discovery hasn't made things any easier."

"Whatever." I said and walked out of the dining room.

The sad and concerned thoughts of my family followed my up the stairs. I knew they were all concerned about my sanity as they had been for the last sixteen years. Most of them were actually wondering when it was all finally going to lead me back to the Volturi. It was one thing to think that I had lost Bella forever, but to know it without a doubt, well, they all knew how much that was killing me.

To be honest, though, the only thing stopping me from taking that step was Esme. I promised her after the first time that I would never do that to her again. I hated hurting my mother, even more than I hated living life without Bella. I realized that when I took the time to reflect on everything. Still, the last sixteen years haven't been the easiest on me.

As I reached the top of the stairs, I heard Esme's thoughts of following me. I knew she was more concerned than any of them. She hated seeing me like this, but didn't know how to help. I really didn't want to have to tell her that there was nothing she could do.

"Let him go." I heard Carlisle's gentle voice as I closed my door. "He needs time to make sense of everything."

"I know." Esme sighed. "I just worry about him."

"I know, but..."

I tuned their conversation and thoughts out after that, because I didn't want to have to deal with them while I was still sorting my own out. Instead, I flipped on my stereo, put Bella's lullabye on repeat, and cranked the volume as high as it would go. Somehow, music made the thoughts easier to ignore.

I flopped on the bed and tried to avoid thinking, but Alice's words kept coming back to me.

_"Because, maybe, just maybe, it's about more than just Bella now."_

I didn't want to think about what that could possibly mean, but the nagging thought wouldn't leave me alone. I hadn't been able to make sense of the words when she said them. They didn't make any sense to me at all. In fact, they had just made me angrier with Alice. To me, it was just another excuse for her to secrets from us.

It killed me to know that she had been keeping secrets from us for the last sixteen years. This family was one of the most open families I had ever met. Sixteen years ago, none of us would've imagined keeping secrets from each other. Besides, with Alice's visions and my mind reading abilities, it was impossible for it to happen. Yet, somehow, she managed and that pissed me off.

I understood Alice's loyalty to Bella. The entire family had always been that way and Bella's been a member of this family since the first time I met. It was only right for Alice to want to keep her promises to Bella, no matter how much distance was between them. If things hadn't been so dire, I would've congratulated Alice on her determination.

The fact, though, was that Bella's life hung in the balance. Secrets should no longer have mattered. We needed to know and understand exactly what drove Bella to go off with the Volturi before coming to us and asking for help. We needed as much information as we could possibly get in order to save her. Alice should've been able to see that Bella's life was more important than any amount of loyalty.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't hear the intrusion of someone else's until I heard the soft knock on my door.

_"Edward, honey, can I come in, please?" _Esme thoughts drifted into my own.

I sighed, because I didn't really want to see anyone at the moment. Yet, there was a small part of me-the subconcious part of me that had already figured out the meaning behind Alice's words-wanted my mommy.

"Of course, mom." I said trying to sound welcoming as I walked over and turned the stereo down.

"You don't have to do that." Esme said with a gentle smile as she walked in and closed the door. "We don't have to talk, if you don't want to. I just don't think you should be alone right now. Carlisle thinks we should leave you be, but I can't."

"It's okay, mom. I understand." And I did. She was as worried about me as any normal mother would be and I couldn't deny her the chance to comfort her son. "I want to talk, anyway."

"And what do you want to talk about?" she questioned coming to sit next to me on the bed.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Everything and nothing." I answered with a shrug of my shoulders. Esme flashed me a sad smile and put her arm around my shoulders.

"How about we start with what Alice said?" she suggested. "Or more importantly, what she didn't say?"

"No." I said shaking my head. "I can't, not yet. I don't even want to try to make sense of it."

"But maybe, that's what you need most, right now?" she told me gently.

"What I need is for the last sixteen years not to have happened." I said laying my head on her shoulder. "I need Bella to never have slept with the mutt. Or never to have left Forks. I need her here with me. In my arms. I need to know that she is safe. I need her to be alive and healthy. And I need there not to be sixteen years of secrets and silence between us."

"I know, son." Esme replied running her fingers through my hair. "I think those are things we all need. And I wish there was a way for me to give them to you. I really do."

We fell into silence after that. There was so much more I wanted to say, but that meant admiting the things that I wasn't ready to admit. I wasn't ready to draw the proper conclusions or make sense of Alice's words. I wanted to stay ignorant for as long as possible. It would hurt less that way.

Esme seemed to understand this, because she reached over and turned stereo back up. She then did her best to concentrate on humming along with the music and stop thinking about everything else.

The time seemed to stretch on for hours as we just sat there trying to avoid the pain. Unfortunately, one could only remain blissfully ignorant for so long.

_"Edward," _Carlisle's thoughts found me way too soon. _"I just got off the phone with Alice. She and Jasper are on the way home. She's ready to tell us everything now. Are you ready for the truth?" _

I sighed because I wasn't sure if I was ready to watch things fall apart even more, but I knew I didn't have much of a choice. I was going to find this out sooner or later.

"We'll be down in a minute." I said in a tone just above normal-I knew he'd hear me. "Alice is ready to come clean." I told Esme. "She and Jasper will be home soon."

"Whatever it is, we'll deal with it together." she told me and kissed the top of my head.

"I know we will, just like we always have."

**A/N: Again, I apologize for the long stretch between updates. I know nothing really happens here, but as you can probably tell, it is setting up for a lot. The story is really getting ready to start taking off. I hope you liked this chapter. Please review. **


	11. In a Moment, Everything Can Change

**A/N: I am sadden by the fact that my last two chapters haven't gotten much response. I really want to know what you guys think about this story and if it's going the way you want it to, so please review more and tell me what you think. I really want to hear. **

**Also, I know the last chapter was confusing with the constant P.O.V. changing and I'm sorry for that. Unfortunately, this chapter is going to be much the same. To make things easier, though, just try to remember that everything is happening simaultaneously. **

**BELLA **

I followed Demetri downed the hall trying very hard to keep my heart rate under control. It wasn't very often Aro asked for me in the middle of the day wearing normal clothing. And when it did happen, it wasn't good for me.

"Don't worry, love." Demetri sneered. "You aren't in trouble. In fact, Aro and the brothers have a surprise for you."

The excitement in his tone told me that this wasn't a surprise that I would like in the slightest. Knowing Demetri, it was probably the worst kind of surprise imaginable. He was just that sadistic. Needless to say, I wasn't at all calmed by his words. In fact, they only made me more nervous.

We continued the walk in silence. I wanted desperately to ask him what the surprise was going to be. However, I knew him well enough to know speaking without permission was never a good idea. He'd probably hit me or slam me into another wall.

Under any other circumstances, I would've taken those punnishments. Unfortunately, I was headed into the belly of the beast with no idea what to expect this time. I needed all the strength and courage I could muster before I entered that room. I didn't need to waste any of it trying to get answers that I knew would never come.

"I see you're finally getting smart." he said after a moment of silence. "Or are you too worried about what's going to happen to bother being difficult?"

I bit back the disrespectful retort that was playing on my lips. I hadn't been here long, but I was learning how to play Jane's, Alec's, Felix's, and Demetri's games. And Demetri's had always been baiting me to give himself the chance to hurt me. I gave him what he wanted the first couple of days, but then I started to figure it all out. Now, I just started letting it go in one ear and out the other.

"You're hardly any fun anymore." he sighed. "I liked it when you were feisty and talked back all the time."

I, once again, didn't say anything, even though I was dying to laugh in his face or tell him to fuck off.

He chuckled and shook his head, but didn't say anything else until we reached the door where Aro held his meetings with the entire guard.

Now, I was really confused. Aro never asked to see me in front of the entire guard. He had enough dignity not to do the things he did to me in public.

"Are you ready for your surprise?" Demetri asked before he pushed the door open.

**ROSEMARIE**

Erick and I stood at Jacob's door for what seemed like an eternity before a woman finally opened it. She was a very beautiful native american woman in her forties. She had beautiful copper skin and long, straight jet black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail.

If it hadn't been for the three thick, red scars runnning down the right side of her face, she would've been the prettiest girl that I had ever seen. I found myself wondering what kind of animal could do that sort of damage. For a split second, an image of my wolf friend flashed through my mind, but I shook it away. I couldn 't image any situation where he'd hurt me or anyone else for that matter.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked with her permanently marred smile.

I opened my mouth to say something, but my throat suddenly felt very dry and I couldn't form the words. All I could think about was who this woman was. Was she my stepmother? Or possibly my aunt? Either way, I knew I was finally staring one of my father's family members in the face, I honestly didn't know what to say.

"Hello, ma'am." I heard Erick's voice come to the rescue as usual. "My name is Erick Anderson and this is my best friend, Rosemarie Swan. We need to speak to Jacob Black about a personal matter. We were told he lives here."

At the sound of my name, the woman turned her attention toward me and fixed me with the most intense stare I had ever seen. Her eyes were filled with confusion and tears, but there was a soft, yet surprised, look behind them.

"Yes, he does." she said slowly as if unsure of herself. "But he isn't in at the moment. He had some business to take care of."

The balloon of tension and excitement that had filled my stomach suddenly deflated. It left me with the worst feeling of disappointment I ever had in my life. I looked down at the concrete step and sighed.

"Oh, okay." I heard Erick say. "We'll just come back another time then."

He and I both turned to go.

"Wait." the woman said. "If you want to come in, I can give him a call. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to come home and see you."

"That would be nice." Erick replied, taking my hand and leading me back to the door.

The woman nodded and lead us into the small house.

"I've actually just finished making breakfast. You are more the welcome to some." she offered as she led us through the small living room and into the even smaller kitchen.

At least it seemed smaller because there were three other Native American women sitting around the small table chatting happily amongst themselves. The conversation immediately stopped when they noticed the two strangers enter the kitchen.

"Ladies, this is Erick Anderson and Rosemarie Swan." the woman who answered the door stated. "They're here to speak with Jacob when he comes back."

Once again, upon hearing my name, the three girls at the table turned to stare at me with confusion and tears. I blushed slightly and looked at the floor. Nobody said a word and the awkward silence stretched for a moment.

The woman who answered the door, pulled two folding chairs out of the closet and set them up.

"Please have a seat." she said with a smile. "I'm Emily, by the way. Jacob's sister-in-law for all intents a purposes." She held out her hand and I shook it wondering what she meant by for all intents and purposes. "And this," she said pointing to the youngest and prettiest girl at the table. She had light copper skin and jet black hair the fell down her back, almost to her waist. She didn't look much older than twenty and had a beautiful smile. "Is Claire."

"Hi." Claire said with a slightly embarrassed smile.

I nodded still trying to figure out why they were all gawking at me like I was a science experiment.

"I'm Kim." the girl next to Claire stated holding out her hand. She looked to be about my mom's age, but her smile made her seem much younger at heart. "Another in-law."

I shook her hand trying to look less awkward than how I felt at the moment.

"And I'm Rachel." the last girl said, holding her hand out as well. "And I'm Jacob's biological sister."

"It's nice to meet you." I said with a slight tremeble in my voice. I shook her hand trying very hard to keep my body from shaking. I was actually meeting my aunt for the first time in my life and I didn't know how I felt about that.

"It's nice to meet you as well." she replied with a kind smile. "And I'm sure my brother will feel the same way about you."

"Thank you." I said with a smile.

"Jacob is on his way." Emily stated coming back into the kitchen. She must've stepped out while the others were introducing themselves. "Leah and Seth are coming with him." she informed the others.

Hearing that Jacob was on his way home sent my heart pounding and I tried to catch my breath. I was finally going to meet my father and I didn't know how I felt about that. Erick squeezing my hand calmed me a little, but not as much as the knowledge that this Seth guy was coming with him, whatever the hell that meant.

**EDWARD**

Esme and I walked downstairs in silence, both trying hard not to think of what Alice was going to tell us when she returned home. I didn't want to think about it and Esme didn't want to hurt me. I could, however, hear the beginnings of speculation, before she chastised herself for it. And all her speculation came back to the one thing that I hoped wasn't the case. Somehow, though, I knew it was the only logical option.

We arrived in the dining room to find Rosalie, Emmett, and Carlisle already there. All three had taken up their usual positions. I sighed and slid into the chair next to Carlisle, who was at the head of the table. Esme sat on his other side and put a hand on top of his.

"How are you holding up, son?" Carlisle asked and I could hear the concern in his voice and see it in his eyes.

I shrugged and put my head in my hands not knowing what to say.

"He's dealing." Esme said quietly. "It might get easier once everything's out in the open."

I didn't have the heart to tell her that I didn't think so.. I knew in my heart that no matter what Alice said in the next few minutes, it would make things a million times more complicated, for all of us.

Nobody said anyrthing after that. Instead, everyone got lost in their own thoughts of what we were about to hear. I wouldn't have minded too much, but everyone was going for the one thing that I didn't even want to think about.

"Please, guys." I said after a minute. "It's hard enough dealing without all of your thoughts and worries on the subject."

Everyone muttered apologies, but while the thoughts quieted, none of them completely went away. I suppose it didn't matter because my world was going to be shattered even more the second Alice walked through that door.

It wasn't long after that when Alice and Jasper returned. Alice entered the dining room with a completely neutral look on her face. She had gone back to singing Taylor Swift songs in her head.

"Alice, if this is going to be some half assed explanation of the last sixteen years, then don't bother." I growled in frustration.

"It's not." Alice replied as she slid into the chair beside me. Jasper remained standing behind her. I could tell that he was on his guard. "I just want you to hear the words, before the thoughts. It might be easier that way."

I sighed, but consented. I doubted that was the case, but I figured after everything, I should probably make her think that she was doing me some good. Alice bit her lip, but didn't say anything.

"I'm not sure where to start." she said as she twiddled her thumbs.

"How about the beginning?" Carlisle responded. "With what we already know."

Alice nodded and started Bella's story.

**JACOB**

"So tell me more about this girl?" I asked Seth as we walked home. I was still having trouble understanding who she was and how she would've ended up with the werewolf gene.

It was weird enough that when she transformed, she was going to be the second girl in our pack. But she was an outsider who had never even been to Forks or the reservation before. I didn't even know how that was possible. According to Sam, our ancestors had never ventured outside of Forks, for fear of tranformations happening with no one to explain things to them.

Yet, here this girl was. According to Seth and Leah, she was a definite outsider, but still possessed the gene. I didn't understand that and I couldn't make sense of it. It was even more frustrating, because Sam seemed ton understand more about it, than I did and he didn't feel up to sharing. Did that mean he was afraid of how the information would affect me? And why was it so important to talk to the Elder's about it before he talked to me about it?

I hated not being able to figure this stuff out.

'Well, like I said, she is the most beautiful creature I've ever seen." Seth said with that dreamy in love smile on his face.

"I don't think that's what he means." Leah said sounding extremely aggravated. "No one else gives a shit about her looks." She smacked him on the back of the head to emphasize her point.

"Ah, Leah, leave him alone." I sighed. "It's kind of cute."

Leah rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything.I understood where she was coming from, though. It wasn't that hard to see. She hadn't been in a relationship since Sam broke her heart and that was over twenty years ago. Sure, she was in the healthier, I'm getting over phase, but it must hurt to see others falling in love and wondering if you'd ever have that again. It's something I had gone through all the time. Still, I couldn't be openly bitter about it, because I was very happy for Seth and I didn't want him to think otherwise.

I put a hand on Leah's shoulder to tell her that I understood.

"Go on, Seth." I said because I needed every detail if I was going to figure out who this girl and her little friend were."

"Well she had a very light copper..." Seth started to say, but the ringing of my cell phone cut him off.

I sighed and pulled it out to see my house number flashing on the screen. Emily must have left her own cell at home again. I signaled for Seth and Leah to hold on a minute and flip the phone open.

"Hey, Emily, what's up?" I asked.

"Jacob, where are you?" she asked. I notied right away that her tone sounded weird, almost afraid. But it wasn't the normal kind of afraid.

"Seth, Leah, and I are about halfway back to the house." I answered. "Why? What's up?"

"Is Sam with you?" Emily asked.

"No, he went to see the Elders about the people who are staying in Bella's house." I answered. "Seth and Leah had an interesting report. He wants to find out what it means."

"Oh." Emily answered. "I don't think that's going to be necessary anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it might be best if you just came home and saw for yourself."

"Emily, just tell me what's going on?" I said barely containing my anger.

I was so tired of everyone pussy footing around everything because they thought it was going to upset me. I wish they would all just start saying what they needed to say and get itover with. I was glass. Even the most surprising and devasting news wouldn't shatter me. I had already lived through the worst, hadn't I?

"I can't, because I don't even know." Emily replied not at all phased by my tone. "Just get home. The sooner you do, the sooner you'll understand."

"Fine, whatever." I sighed before snapping the phone shut and shoving it back in my pocket.

I shot Seth and Leah a puzzled look and they both shrug. I knew they had heard every word of the conversation, but they were both just as clueless as I was.

"Maybe we should follow her advice, though." Leah said with a sigh. "If she wants us to hurry, then it must be important."

"You're right." I sighed. "We should probably run then."

"Agreed." Leah answered and Seth nodded.

We ran toward the cover of trees and barely took the time to remove our clothes before we phased.

**EDWARD**

Alice's story had confirmed my worst fear. When Bella had left Forks, she had been pregnant with the mutt's baby. Granted, she didn't know that she was pregnant at the time. She didn't discover it until after she had been in Jacksonville for a little over a month.

I was sure how I felt about, though. I was angry that the mutt had been able to give her another thing that I couldn't, but I was happy that Bella had been able to have that experience. I had always known she would make a wonderful mother, despite her lack of interest in having children. It also hurt a lot to think that Bella felt she couldn't come back to us. She should've known we would always do what we could to help her, despite the circumstances.

It didn't help matters that Alice had finally revealed this knowledge after sixteen years of secrecy. She was family and family didn't keep secrets like this. Family was always open and honest about everything, regardless of the circumstances.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" I growled at her needing to relieve some of this anger.

"Because, she made me promise not to." Alice answered. I could hear the hurt in her voice, but I couldn't find it in my heart to really care at the moment. I wanted her to feel some of what I was feeling at the moment.

"But we're," I indicated everyone sitting or standing around the dining room table. "Family. You don't keep secrets from family."

"Bella's family too!" Alice replied. "What happened sixteen years ago doesn't matter. She is my sister and always will be. If she asks me to keep a secret, I will, no matter what."

"So why come clean now?" Carlisle asked trying to keep the fight from escalating. He could read that he wanted to figure things out before Alice got to upset to keep talking. "I mean, you were so against it, an hour ago."

"I know, but I figured some things out and had another half vision about her." Alice answered with a sigh. "Things might be about to get out of hand."

"Okay, then tell us what's going on." Carlisle pressed.

"I can only give you theories on what I think happened, but I'm pretty positive this is what happened." Alice sighed. "The Volturi came calling and threatened Rosemarie to get Bella to do what they wanted. When Bella agreed, she called me, said her goodbyes, and arranged for Rosemarie to be taken care of by having me deposit the money. Then two weeks later, I saw Aro's decision to burn Bella's house, because he wanted me to be able to see it. We weren't allowed at the funeral and Renee refused to talk to us because she didn't want us to find out anything about Rosemarie."

"So are you saying that she is definitely with the Volturi?" I asked.

"I'm almost positive." Alice answered. "There is no force on Earth that could take Bella away from Rosemarie, unless Rosemarie's life was in danger."

I nodded and took a minute to mull things over. Once Alice told her story, things started making sense. Bella had always been one to put others before herself, especially when it came to those she loved. And there was no greater love than that of a mother for her child. If Aro had threatened Bella's daughter, she would've put a gun to her own head if he had wanted her to. Anything to save her child. It would make sense that she willing went to Volterra to save her little girl.

"So what do we do?" Emmett asked.

"We respect her wishes." Rosalie replied quietly. "She is doing what she needs to do to protect her child. As much as it hurts, I think we should just let her do it."

"Rosalie." Esme reprimanded. "We can't just leave her there. We could save her and protect them both."

"Not against the entire Volturi, love." Carlisle replied gently patting her shoulder.

"I agree with Esme." Alice said. Her words shocked me so much that I pulled out of my pity party to stare at her unsure of what to think.

"An hour ago, you wanted to let it go too." I said. "What's the deal?"

"My vision." Alice replied simply. "It was another half ass one, but I saw enough to know that Aro is up to something. And it's big and bad.

"And what exactly did you see?"

"Well, Bella was..."

**BELLA**

"Good, Demetri, you're back." Aro said as Demetri and I entered the room. "And you brought our little pet. Excellent."

The brother's were sitting on their thrones at the front of the room with the entire guard standing in a loose, relaxed circle around them. Damien was standing beside Aro with a self - satisfied smile on his face. Alec, Jane, and Felix were standing beside him, looking like Christmas had come early. I was suddenly untterly terrified about what was going to happen to me.

Demetri unclipped the leash from my collar and went to stand in his spot beside Felix. I sighed and went to Aro before dropping to my knees.

"Good afternoon, Master." I said as audibly as possible. "Master Demetri said you wished to see me."

"Yes, Pet, I did." Aro responded and I could hear the sneer in his voice. "Young Damien, here has just informed me that we will be having visitors soon."

His words surprised me so much that I almost forgot my place and looked up at him. Almost. My fear of puishment kept my eyes glued on his feet.

"Visitors, Master?" I questioned in a voice that carried around the room. It irritated Aro when I didn't speak up.

"Yes, Pet, visitors." Aro answered and I could hear the amusement in his voice. "Special ones actually."

I swallowed hard. When I first came to Volterra, Aro had mentioned "special visitor" would come to the castle ocassionally. It would be my job to entertain them in anyway they wished. It made me sick to even think about that. It was bad enough to have to service and entertain the brothers and their guard, but to have to do it with others was something I didn't want to think about.

Aro's extra sensory senses must have picked up on my discomfort somehow. Most likely, my increased heart rate, seeing as my eyes were still glued to the floor.

"Don't worry, love." he said in condescending tones as he stroked my hair. "These guest will not require your services when they arrive. I think they'll be more concerned about your well being."

I wasn't sure what to make of his words. What kind of guests would Aro be recieving that would care about my well being? My first thought had been the Cullens, but Aro wouldn't be speaking of their visit with such excitement. Unless he had something planned for them.

My heart rate picked up as an image of the Volturi guard tearing my wonderful, loving family to shreds before my eyes. All because they had the nerve to come and try to save me.

"Don't worry, my pet." he answered gently lifting my face so I met his eyes. I could see that he knew exactly what I was thinking. "By the time they arrive, you won't give a damn what I do to them."

"I don't understand, Master." I said, even more afraid of what was going to happen.

"You don't have to." he smirked for a moment, then his face changed. He was no longer the amused and cheerful Aro that good news made him. He was the cold hearted Master that could inflict more pain than anyone else in that room. I was suddenly very afraid. "Stand up." he ordered.

I immediately did as he ordered. My legs were shaking so much that I almost fell over a few times. Once I was standing, Aro wrapped his hands in my hair roughly and yanked my backwards hard.

"I'd apologize for this, but it won't matter in a few days anyway." He whispered in my ear.

There was a second of utter horror where I wondered exactly what he was going to do, before my feet disappeared from underneath me and I was sailing through the air. Several horrifying seconds later, I hit the far wall head first and fell to the ground.

There was a lot of pain, but there was also much relief. Slowly, every worry, thought, or fear just flew away from me. Jacob, Edward, Rosemarie, the Cullens, the wolfpack, my mother and father, and anyone else I ever cared about just left my mind. It was almost as if I was losing them for ever and that didn't bother me. Because for the first time in years, nothing mattered. The wonderful lasted for only a few moments, before the world faded to black.

And then, the burning started...

**JACOB**

"Before you go in there, Jacob, I need to warn you about something." Emily bombarded us the second we walked into the house.

I had started heading toward the kitchen, because if I was going to have to meet and deal with random strangers in my house, I was going to need some food first. Emily, however, hadn't allowed me to get that far before jumping in the way.

"What do you mean you have to warn me?" I asked confused. "They didn't try to hurt you, did they?"

"Oh, no." she replied shaking her head. "It's nothing like that. I'm actually not sure what it is. I just think that you need to be prepared for what you are about to walk into."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, still not understanding what she was trying to tell me. Why would she think that I needed to be prepared to meet random strangers? If I didn't like what they had to say, then I would just tell them to leave.

"Well, see the girl is...Well, she has...And I..." Emily stuttered and I got the feeling she was having a hard time figuring out how to tell me something.

"Look, Emily, don't worry about it." I said. "Whatever it is, I can handle it."

I was so sure that was true. I had been handling everything this past week in my stride. Sure, Bella's death had been difficult, but I was getting through this. I could get past whatever this stranger had to say to me.

As I walked past Emily I heard her sigh and say something that sounded like,

"Your funeral."

I shook my head and pushed the kitchen door open. It was then that I realized, I should have listened to Emily. Sitting in the corner around the table chatting with Kim, Claire, and Rachel was a boy and a girl. I didn't notice much about the boy, but the girl was..I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

She didn't look much older than sixteen. She looked to weigh about 120 pounds and was a little under six foot tall. She had long, but curly jet black hair and beautiful brown eyes - he ones that I remember looking into everyday - and a smile that could light up the world. She had the most interesting complexion that I had ever seen. She was clearly Native American, but the Caucasian in her was so dominant that it didn't want to be silenced.

I stood there staring at her for a long time unable to believe what I was seeing. There was no way this girl could be who I thought she was, but the proof was right there. She had the all the features and even that light in her eyes, but it couldn't be. Bella would've told me. Wouldn't she?

She must've sensed someone staring at her, because she turned her attention to me. The other girls looked up when they realized that I had been in the room.

"Oh, Jacob, you're home. Good." Rachel said in the same excited, yet ucertain tone as Emily.

"Jacob Black?" the girl at the table asked as she rose.

"Yes." I said taking in more of her and trying to make sense of everything.

"I'm Rosemarie Swan." she said in a shaking voice as she held out her hand. "I think I'm daughter."

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? I hope you understand what I was trying to do with Bella. If not, all will be explained in the next chapter. Please review! I wanna know what you guys think. **


	12. Daughter to Father

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. I've had a lot of people trying to guess what was happening with Bella. I'm not giving anything away, though. However, you'll have to wait another chapter or so to find out, because there is a lot about to happen with Jacob, Erick, Rosemarie and the pack. So we'll have to wait and see what happens later. **

**Also, I'm sorry this has taken so long to get out. The muses have been giving and taking at random lately. I'm trying very hard to get the to stay with me for this story. **

**ROSEMARIE**

The time spent talking to Jacob's family was only a little awkward. The girls seemed to understand that my mother had been friends with Jacob. I couldn't be sure if they knew that I knew how close they actually were. They spent most of the time telling me stories about Jacob and my mother. I felt most of them had been edited, though.

I didn't put much thought into why, though. It was nice just to hear stories about my mother when she was in Forks. She kept so many secrets that I felt like I barely knew her, even though she was my best friend in the whole world. It was nice getting to know her, even if it was through people that I just met.

The conversation had been going so well that I barely noticed someone enter the kitchen. In fact, if I hadn't sensed there eyes on me, I would've never noticed them. As it were, I turned my attention to the person who was standing in the doorway staring at me.

I found myself staring at a Native American man of no older than twenty-five. He was tall, musclular, and very handsome. He was wearing nothing but a pair of cut off jean shorts. I found myself staring at his beautiful chest. I wondered how much he benched pressed in a day to look like that.

I met his eyes and was embarassed by my previous thoughts. I knew then that this man was Jacob Black and there was no longer any doubt in my mind that he was my father. The features in myself that I hadn't recognized in my mother's side of the family stood out on him. I had his nose and complexion with enough of my mother's paleness to not look completely Native American.

The only one thing that I didn't understand, though, Jacob couldn't have been older than twenty-five. Thirty if we were stretching it. Being good at math, it didn't take me long to figure out that it meant he was only between nine and fourteen when I was conceieved. Meaning: my mother had slept with a minor while she was married. Why would she do that?

Being logical, I considered the idea that the man could've been a brother of Jacob's and Rachel's. A younger brother, but the man had too many of my features for that to be true. Still, I held on to the hope that my mother wasn't a cougar.

"Oh, Jacob, you're home. Good." Rachel said, shattering that hope like a glass.

Jacob didn't respond to Rachel because he was too busy staring at me and puzzling over who I was. I figured it would be easiest just to tell him and get on with things. No point in dragging it out if we both knew who the other was.

"Jacob Black?" I asked, releasing Erick's hand and standing. _"I can do this." _I reminded myself.

"Yes." Jacob answered in a little above a whisper. I wasn't sure what he was thinking, but I thought it was something bad.

"I'm Rosemarie Swan." I said trying, unsuccessfully, to keep the shake out of my voice. I held my hand up, praying he would shake it. "I think I'm your daughter."

**JACOB**

I stood there, frozen, staring at the beautiful young woman before me. I had heard her words and saw the proof standing before me, but I couldn't make myself believe it. Bella would've told me if we had a child together. She had been so hell bent on not hurting Edward and I. Did she not know that keeping a secret like this would've hurt me worse than anything else she could've ever done to me?

I knew that she was waiting for me to give her some kind of reaction. She was probably hoping that I would open my arms and embrace her. She probably wanted to hear me tell her that I'm glad she came and that I couldn't wait to get to know her.

I wanted desperately to do and say those things, but I couldn't make my body or mouth work. All I could do was stand there trying to make sense of the last sixteen years. Why had Bella lied to me? I just didn't get it.

After a few moments, the girl, Rosemarie, dropped her hand and I saw hurt flash in those beautiful eyes of hers. If she was really Bella's daughter, I knew that she took my silence as a rejection. I wanted to tell her that wasn't the case, but I couldn't make my mouth work.

She took a few steps back and looked at the boy. I could see tears glistening in her eyes. I wanted to comfort her, but I couldn't make my body move. I was still lost in the shock of this new information. I couldn't make myself process it.

"This was a bad idea, Erick." I heard her whisper. "I think maybe we should go."

I heard the crack in her voice as she fought the tears threatening to fall down her cheeks. I wanted to reach out and ask her to stay. I wanted to make her understand what was going on in my head. But I couldn't make myself do or say anything. All I could do was stand there trying to make it all make sense.

"No." I heard Rachel plead. "Please, stay." She was suddenly in my face, shaking me by the shoulders. "Jacob," she growled. "Say something, now."

"She didn't tell me." I whispered. It was all I could manage at the moment. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"I don't know." Rachel responded, "But that's not what's important right now and you know it." She proceeded to glare at me in true big sister fasion. "What is important is the sixteen year old girl who spent her entire life thinking that her father didn't want her and, by just standing there, you're proving her right. So go talk to her?"

"But I don't know what to say." I whispered back watching Rosemarie over Rachel's shoulder. It appeared that she had done what Rachel asked and waited. She was, however, standing beside her friend Erick looking scared and unsure.

"It doesn't matter." Rachel responded. "Just find a way to let her know you haven't rejected her."

I sighed, but nodded. Rachel took a step back, but didn't sit down. I was sure she'd herd the others to the living room as soon as she knew I'd be okay.

I took a deep breath and walked towards my daughter, still unsure of what I was going to do or say.

**ROSEMARIE**

I stood there with my hand out, smiling like an idiot for longer than necessary. I knew it would take a minute or so for the shock of my news to sink in. In truth, I needed a minute for things to sink in as well.

I still couldn't get over the fact that my father was less than sixteen years younger than me when my mom was nearly twenty. It didn't make sense to me. Did her marriage to Edward make her that unhappy that she had to run to the arms of a child?

I didn't think that was the case, though. They way Angela talked at the resturaunt had implied that she loved Edward very much. Yet, she also made it clear that she loved Jacob too. But why was she love a child like that. It made no sense to me.

I supposed that I could always ask Jacob about it when we got passed this awkward getting to know you phase. I was sure there was a logical explanation for it all. Regardless of anything else, he was my father and I wanted to get to know him. I could only hope he wanted the same thing.

As I stood there staring with my hand outstretched though, Jacob didn't make a move to take it. He didn't even make a sound. He just stood there staring at me like I was some kind of an alien. My heart broke as I realized, if he hadn't done anything, yet, then he probably wasn't going to do it at all.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure what that meant. He didn't want me. My mom had been right along. She just didn't know it. That thought hurt worse then knowing my mother had lied to me all these years.

I dropped my hand trying to keep from crying and turned back to Erick.

"This was a bad idea, Erick." I whispered. "I think maybe we should go."

I heard the crack in my voice and felt the tears welling in my eyes. _"Keep it together until we get to the car." _I thought, not wanting to embarass myself further.

Jacob just continued to stand there in silence as if I hadn't existed. Erick took my hand and started to stand up. He knew how desperately I needed to get out of there.

"No." Rachel said standing up. "Please, stay." She sounded so sincere that I nodded to Erick, who sat back down. She stepped in front of Jacob and started to have a whispered conversation with him.

I sat back in my chair with a sigh, putting my head in my hands. I didn't want to cry, but I couldn't help it. This trip was turning into a huge disaster.

**JACOB**

Rosemarie had sat back down with her head in her hands during my conversation with Rachel. Her body shook with sobs and Erick had placed his arm around her shoulders trying to comfort her. I kicked myself for hurting her like that. I had only known my daughter for five minutes and I had already made her cry.

Erick shot me a dark look as I approached them. I bowed my head in apology, but made a mental note to clarify their relationship later. What kind of father would I be if I didn't keep tabs on the men in my daughter's life?

He nodded back, giving me permission to continue my approach, but he didn't look happy about it. I dropped to my knees in front of Rosemarie's chair and did the only thing that I could think to do, I wrapped my arms around.

Instantly, her sobbing stopped and she froze for a long moment. I was sure that she was expecting this, expecially after the spectacle I just made of not shaking her had. After a minute though, she thawed and wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm sorry." I whispered to her. "I didn't mean to be cruel and I'm glad you're here. It's just the last time I saw your mother, we had just concieved you the night before she left me with a note that said she was leaving me. And now, she's dead and you're here."

I realized I made a mistake when it was too late to take it back. If Rosemarie hadn't known about me, then there was no way she would've known about the Cullens. Which meant, she wouldn't have known the were in Jacksonville after the fire.

She pushed herself away from me and stared at me in shock and fear.

"How did you know she was dead?" she asked.

"Some old friends of hers went to visit her a couple of weeks ago." I responded trying to stick as close to the truth as possible. "They found what was left of the house. And I don't know how they figured out what happened, but they came back and told me."

She gasped and her eyes got wide as if she was remembering something terrifying.

"How many old friends?" she asked in a shaking voice.

"Seven, why?" I answered.

She shook her head and bit her lip. I could tell that she wanted to tell me, but didn't know if she should. It seemed like whatever memory my mention of Bella's friends had brought on, was not a pleasant one for her. I wanted to tell her that it would be okay and she could tell me, because I would protect her. I knew just saying it wouldn't help. We just met and she didn't know me from Adam. We'd have to earn each other trust. Only then, could she be able to let me help her.

"Okay." I sighed. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. We could just talk about simple things. Get to know each other a little, first."

"I'd like that." she replied wiping the dried tears from her eyes.

"I would too." I smiled at her. "And let's start with your friend. Would you mind introducing him?"

Erick stood and shaking his head. He held his hand out to me with a smile.

"I apologize, Mr. Black." he said blushing slightly. "I forgot my manners. I'm Erick Anderson."

"It's nice to meet you Erick." I said holding out my hand. "And please, call me Jacob. We are very informal around here." Erick smiled at that. "Unless, of course, I have to worry about you and my daughter?" I added just for the fun of seeing his reaction.

"Of course not, sir." he said earnestly. "Rosemarie and I have been best friends since dare care. She's like my sister. I could never think of her in a way that would worry a father."

"Glad to hear it." I said only just noticing that everyone in the room was staring at the three of us like we were some king of fanscinating side show.

Rachel cleared her throat and everyone turned to look at her.

"Maybe we should give Jacob and Rosemarie some privacy." she said. "I'm sure they've got a lot to catch up on."

Everyone, except Erick, murmured their agreement and headed toward the living room. Rachel, who was used to everyone listening to her, stopped when everyone else had cleared out and looked back at Erick.

"Coming, Erick?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

**ROSEMARIE **

I didn't know why, but Jacob mentioned some of my mom's old friends deciding to come for a visit I immediately thought of the four visitors that she had a couple weeks before the fire. She hadn't acted like they were friends. She was even scared of them. Yet, I couldn't let go of the idea that they had something to do with it.

I wanted to tell Jacob about it and see what he thought, but according to my mom's letter, whatever it was about, was dangerous information. I didn't want Jacob to get involved, because it would put him and his family in danger. I didn't come here with the intent of doing that. I just wanted to know who my father was. And find out more about my mother's past.

That's why I just shook my head when he asked me to elaborate on why I wanted to know how many friends had come to visit her. I was glad that he accepted my answer and changed the subject to simpler things.

Rachel was now standing in the doorway, waiting for Erick to leave the kirchen and give Jacob and I the chance to be alone. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I knew I needed the time to get to my father, but I wasn't sure I could handle this conversation without some kins of support.

"Will you be alright without me?" Erick looking at me earnestly.

"I don't know." I sighed. "But it's gotta happen sooner or later, right?"

"Right." he smiled. "But I'll be just in the other room, if you need something. Okay?"

"Okay." I nodded. He rose, kissed me on the head and headed into the living room.

I sighed and tried to relax back in me chair. This was my father, regardless of the time we spent away from each other, I should be able to be comfortable around him. Still, there was something about him the made my skin itch.

"You don't mind if I get something to eat, do you?" Jacob asked after a minute. "I haven't had breakfast yet."

"Help yourself." I said. "I've had my daily dose of coffee, so I'm good for a awhile."

He nodded and grabbed a plate. It wasn't until I watched as he spent nearly fifteen minutes trying to neatly pile food onto his plate that he was as nervous about this as I was.

"So how long have you been in Forks?" he asked when he finally came back to the table.

"A little over a week." I replied trying to keep my voice even. "We would've come sooner, but I wanted to be more sure of somethings before I came knocking on your door."

He nodded and, around a mouth of food, said,

"How did you know where to find me anyway?"

"My mom seemed to know what was going to happen to her." I explained. "So she left me a letter. She finally told me the truth about you and mentioned other things about her past here in Forks. She alo left two plane tickets for Erick and I. She wanted us to come and find you."

**JACOB**

I listened to Rosemarie answer to my question and started wondering exactly what Bella had said in the note. And what she wanted me to do at this point?

"What kinds of things did she tell you?" I asked still trying to make sense of what happened.

"I actually have it with me." I said. "If you wanna read it."

I nodded putting another forkful of food in my mouth. I took another second to considered why she had decided to openly show me the letter, but wouldn't tell me why Bella have friends come to Jacksonville had scared her so much.

I watched as she pulled the letter out of her back jean pocket and unfold it slowly. She laid it carefully in front of me.

"I carry it with me, because that way it feels like part of her is still with me." she explained and looked a little embarassed.

"Don't worry." I told her. "She wrote me one when she left Forks and, even sixteen years-later, I read it everyday."

She flashed me a sad, but grateful smile and I looked down at the letter in front of me.

I read it over a few times, so I could be sure that I had a complete understanding of what Bella wanted for our daughter, but also in the hopes of getting a better understanding of what happened.

One thing stuck out more than anything esle, Bella seemed to know that the Volturi were coming for and soon after the letter. Did that mean that they had come to her ahead of time? Were they the visitors that Rosemarie was so worried about?

I wanted to question her about all of this, but I didn't. I didn't want to upset her so soon after just meeting her, but I also understood, from Bella's letter, that she wanted Rosemarie to know as little as possible about all of this. I wanted to respect those wishes. If I asked her too many questions about the visitors, then I'd have to tell her everything. Neither of us was ready for that conversation, yet.

I knew it was inevitable though. She was my daughter, after all. There was no way that she wasn't going to phase. She have to learn everything then, but I wanted to keep her inoccent for as long as possible.

Bella had also mentioned Edward. Not by name, of course, but in reference to her feelings towards the both of us. It also showed me that Rosemarie and Erick were the ones living in the Swan's old house. I knew the Cullens had been keeping the house up. Edward hadn't wanted to leave the place a mess or pack anything away. He wanted her to come home to a place worth coming home to. He never gave up on that hope.

I sighed, because I knew now what happened now. Bella was never going back to that house, even if she was still alive with the Volturi. I've only heard stories about them, but I had a feeling they wouldn't let her come home alive. No matter what the Cullens or our pack did.

"How much do you know about your mother's time in Forks?" I asked after several long minutes of silence. I needed to know what she knew, so that I could figure out explanations.

"Not much." she answered. "And the stuff we discovered while we were here just made things more confusing. Especially Edward Cullen and his family."

I sighed and pushed my plate away from me. I didn't expect her to know about him. This would've been so much easier if she hadn't known about them. I didn't even know what I should and shouldn't tell her. I knew Bella didn't want Rosemarie to know for her own safety, but didn't she have a right to know everything that happened to her mother. To know what she died for. And yes, as far as Rosemarie was concerned, Bella was dead. I wasn't going to screw her up by telling her that her mother was in the hands of monsters.

Then there was the Cullens, themselves. I couldn't tell their secret to some strange human just because she was mine and Bella's daughter. It would've been to much to ask them to trust her. Still, I didn't want to leave Rosemarie with nothing.

"And what exactly have you found out about the Cullens?" I asked. I should get as much information as I could about it.

"I know that my mother married Edward Cullen almost a year before I was born." she answered. "But she had sex with you sometime after. We talked to my mom's old school friends and they told me she was very much in love with Edward and he was over the moon with her. They wouldn't tell me much else, though. The said it was too personal for them to say much about it."

"And it was really personal." I told her. "Mine and Edward's relationships with your mother are very complicated. All I can really say is that your mother loved both of us very much and she could never choose between us."

"But she married Edward." Rosemarie said. I felt a pang in my heart at the reminder that she always loved him more. No matter what.

"She did."

"So then why did she sleep with you?"

"Shortly after your grandfather died," I paused to make sure that I didn't have to explain that to her. Relief washed through me as she nodded for me to continue. I didn't want to have to explain to her that her grandfather was killed in a robbery gone wrong at the local convience store. "Edward and the family went on a hunting trip," I left it at that. No point in giving her a reason to read more into it. "Bella opted to stay behind and I was enlisted to stay with her."

"You took advantage of her vulnerability." Rosemarie accused staring at me with narrowed eyes.

"No." I said shaking my head. "I asked her over and over if she wanted to stop, but she didn't. I didn't try to stop her, but I didn't take advantage and I certainly didn't try to force her. I would never have hurt your mother like that.

"Anyway, it happened and the next morning, she refused to see me. A couple hours later, I get a letter from her telling me that she was leaving Forks and didn't want me following. Edward got the same letter, and divorce papers."

"She felt guilty." Rosemarie whispered. "She knew she hurt both of you and couldn't live it."

"Yup, but that's how she's always been."

"I know. I always wondered why she seemed so sad."

"Yeah. She left everything, but you behind when she left Forks. I imagine you were the one that kept her going on everyday."

She didn't say anything to that. She just sat there staring at her hands. I sighed, unsure of what to say to make her feel better.

**ROSEMARIE**

I didn't know how to feel about the conversation we were having. This is the most I had talked about my mother since she died. And it was to find out all the things she had been hiding from me. It stung to a little to know that it was simply guilt on her part that kept me from knowing my father and even her.

I was just starting to realize that she had a completely different life here in Forks. It seemed that she was even a completely different person. She was happy and there was probably life in her eyes when she wasn't looking at me.

I hadn't realized until then just how close Jacob's statement was to the truth. I was the only one who could ever bring a smile to my mother's face. Most times I thought that I was the only one who made her feel anything. I wasn't sure how this knowledge made me feel.

"Are you alright?" Jacob asked putting a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, just processing." I answered.

"I understand that." he answered.

We were silent for a long time after that. I wasn't sure how to go on with the conversation from here. I wanted to more about the Cullens, but I didn't want to sound pushy or like I didn't care about his feelings. I knew he was dealing with the grief and pain of losing her twice. I was still dealing with it for the first time. I can imagine his feelings.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" he asked. I guess he really was my father if he could tell what I was thinking just like that.

"You were close to the Cullens too, then?" I blurted.

"It's complicated, why?" he answered and I could hear the guarded tone in his voice.

"Because Erick, who's a computer whiz, searched everyone of them trying to find a recent address." I explained. "We wanted to talk to them, too."

"I what did you find?" Jacob responded. He was worried about were this conversation was going. I could see it in his eyes.

"Absolutely, nothing." I told him. "Other than a shitload of fake documents and birthcertificates and job ID's. We also found picture spanning from 1985 to 2000 and not a single one aged a day. We don't know what that means and were hoping you could tell us."

He was silent for a very long time looking at the table. I wondered what was going on in his hand as we sat there in silence. I thought for sure he wasn't going to answer and then,

"I'm not going to lie." he finally said. "I know what it means, but I can't tell you."

My heart dropped into my stomach. I had been hoping to get answers, but he wasn't going to give me any. Did he have any idea of what I was going through.

"I don't understand." I stated.

"It's a secret." Jacob responded. "One that I'm not permitted to tell, because it's there's not mine. Besides, it's a dangerous secret. One that I know your mother never wanted you to find out."

As he said the words, I found myself getting angrier because all of the pieces were starting to fall into place. But he wasn't going to give me the final most curcial detail of it all.

"She knew, didn't she?" I asked.

Jacob bit his lip, but nodded.

"And she did for it?"

He put his head in his hands, but nodded again.

"Then I need to know, Jacob, please?" I begged. I had to know what she died for. I had to know what was so important that she had to leave me. Maybe then, I could stop being angry with her.

"I can't." He replied shaking his head. "I won't endanger your life. Bella wouldn't have wanted that. She would've wanted me to protect you and that's what I'm going to do."

"I don't want to be protected, Jacob." I nearly screamed trying not to rip out my hair. I didn't want to come off as some pshychotic chic, but he was pissing me off. Did he not understand what I was going through. "I want to understand why my mother had to die."

"I know you do and I wish I could tell you." Jacob answered. I could tell by his voice that he was sincere. "You have no idea how much I wish I could tell you."

"Then why can't you?" I asked trying not to cry.

"Because it's not my place. And, as your father, I don't want you knowing this. It could get you killed like it got your mother killed."

"Don't even start the as your father crap." I growled at him. "I haven't even known you for two hours. Besides, as my father, you should want to give me what I need. And I need to know what happened and why?"

"I'm sorry." he replied shaking his head and I could see tears forming.

"That's not good enough. My mother is dead and all I'm left with is a letter. One that pretty much tells me that she was murdered and I can find out why, by coming here and finding out about from you, my father. And you're just going to leave me with nothing?"

"The knowledge is dangerous." he argued. "You have to understand that."

"And do you think I would've come this far, if I cared?"

"You're mother wouldn't want it."

"Then why would she have sent me here?"

"I don't know. Maybe she wanted you to have me? Maybe she wanted you to let it go and forget about it?"

"She knew I wouldn't let it go until I got my answers."

"Well, I'm sorry that I can't give them to you."

"Wow, it really was a mistake coming here." I stood up and wiped viciously at the tears falling down my cheeks. I wasn't sure why I was crying. Anger, sadness, disappointment, and pain all swirled through my head and heart. I just needed to get away for a bit.

I walked into the living room slamming the kitchen door against the wall. I walked into the living room to find everyone from the kitchen sitting around the living room chatting happily.

Erick was sitting on the couch across from another Native American girl. She had short black hair and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a black tank top that had a few rips in it and a pair of cut off shorts. She looked like she had just spent a few days lost in the woods. The two were engaged in an intense conversation, about what I wasn't sure. The girl had a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes. I couldn't see Erick's face, but he was laughing.

I hated the idea of interuptting him. He was usually really shy around girls, so when he found one he could talk to, it was a monumentous ocassion. I didn't want to get in his way this time, but I just had to get out of there.

"Erick, can we..." I started, but then my eyes fell on boy/man sitting on the floor in front of the couch.

Our eyes locked and he smiled at me. Suddenly, I didn't feel the need to leave anymore...

**A/N: What do you guys think? I know it's a long one, but I needed to get a lot of information in there. I hope it isn't too repitive. If it is, I'm sorry. I guess there isn't much else. Other than this, there will be a special preview of my next chapter for anyone who can tell what the theme of my chapter titles is. **


	13. A Light to Burn All the Embers

**A/N: So this is one of those chapters that I have been thinking about and planning since I started the story. It's giving one of my favorite Twilight characters her happy ending. **

**LEAH**

I had every intention of following Jacob into the kitchen to speak with his visitors. None of us knew who they were or what they wanted. If their intent was to harm Jacob, he'd need some back up. I wanted to make sure that he got it. Besides, after everything that happened this week, I was itching for a fight. Jacob's thoughts on the run home told me he felt the same way. Seth was too lost in thoughts of his imprint to be much help. Hopefully, if it came down to a fight, Jacob and I could handle whoever had come to call.

Emily seemed to believe that wouldn't be the case, even though all of us could tell she was nervous about something. She had tried to prepare Jacob for whoever he was about to meet, like it was a scary thing, but she wouldn't let Seth and I follow him.

"Give him a minute." was all she said before shooing Seth and I away from the door.

Even though I was curious, I flopped on the couch and didn't ask questions. Instead, I allowed myself to get lost in the things that I hadn't thought about in nearly sixteen years. Things that I thought I had gotten over. Things that only the imprinting of another brother could bring up.

Sam. I couldn't remember a time when he wasn't in my life-and that was long before we started dating. We had been friends since we were in diapers. In fact, he was like the big brother that I had always wanted-not that Seth wasn't a good brother-because he was. But there is a big difference between a big brother and a little brother. Sam filled the holes that Seth couldn't for me and I loved them both for it.

Neither of us knew when our feelings went from simple friendship and loyalty to love and passion, but when it happened it wasn't long before we started talking about marriage and having babies. We had a beautiful future planned. One that I couldn't wait to live. Then Emily came along and ruined everything.

I remember that I had hated her so much for destroying everything. I hated Sam even more for allowing her to take everything from us. She destroyed everything we had spent years building and all she had to do was show up at the right time.

When the curse finally made its way to me, I found I was no longer angry with them. Just sad. I couldn't blame them for something they had no control over. I just hated the fact that Sam couldn't have imprinted with me. It didn't help that I had to see every touch, kiss, and caress and listen to every word of love that they ever spoke to each other. I didn't have a choice and that made things worse for me.

It was nice to finally understand why he had to leave me, but sometimes, I wish I hadn't. If that was the case, then I could've gone on hating Sam and Emily from a distance. I could've just pretended that I wasn't being ripped apart every time I saw them together. Now, seeing everything inside Sam's head makes it impossible to ignore.

As if reading my mind, Emily walked over a sat down beside me. Strangely, I no longer had feelings of resentment towards her. Finding out that she only stole my boyfriend because of some mystical werewolf shit, sort of took all the fun out of being angry with her. So I didn't even spare a second glance toward her when she sat down beside me.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a gentle smile. She seemed to understand how much what happened had hurt me and always went out of the way to be nice to me.

I shrugged and tried to plaster on a smile. Thinking about Sam and I before Emily came along hadn't made pretending easy.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" I asked, but even my voice sounded a lot less numb than usual.

"I haven't seen this much emotion in you since your father died?" she answered. "And before that..." She trailed off, but we both knew what she was getting at.

I had been comfortably numb since Sam left me for Emily. I didn't show anyone what I was really feeling, unless it hurt a lot. My father's death nearly destroyed me. I think that was what finally killed the Leah everyone knew and loved. That's around when I became the bitter harpie.

I sighed. Emily had taken on the role of pack mother since she and Sam imprinted. She take care of us in a way our real mothers couldn't, because of the change. Sam would help us deal physically and mytically, but Emily always took the emotional stuff. As nice as it sometimes was, it was annoying when you wanted to be left alone.

"I really don't want to talk about it." I told her.

"Then maybe that's exactly what you need to do." Emily replied sounding every bit the mother she had become to all of us.

"What I need is to get out of here and away from all of this." I replied standing up. I didn't know if I was going to walk out right that second, but I suddenly felt like I couldn't stay there anymore.

"Then maybe you should take a break." Emily replied soothingly grabbing my wrist. I think she was a little worried that I was going to walk out the door. "Go away for awhile. Sam will understand. He did when Jacob left."

I just shook my head. I knew she was right. A break was exactly what I needed. I had to get away from the joyous, mushiness of my brothers' love lives. I needed to be able to find a world outside of Sam and the pack. To be given a chance to move on without all this mystical werewolf shit. I had forgotten how to just be Leah Clearwater. I needed a chance to remember who I was.

I knew I couldn't, though. I had responsibilities here. I had a brother to watch and protect. I had to keep Jacob from going losing his head again. God only knew what he'd do now that he knew death was the only way he could be with Bella again. I was the only one who could keep him alive and I had to keep him alive. Jacob was too good to die because of some bitch who didn't want him.

"I can't." I said flopping back down on the couch. "You guys need me here."

"What we need is for you to take care of yourself." Emily replied calmly putting her hand on my thigh. "You can't take care of anybody until you take care of yourself."

I just shook my head fighting back the tears. I wanted desperately to talk to Sam about what she had suggested. It could help me a lot. But I couldn't just walk away from Seth and Jacob. No matter how badly I needed it.

"At least talk to Sam about it." Emily pressed.

"I..." I started to say, but then the door to the kitchen opened. Naturally, Emily, Seth, and I looked in that direction, hoping to get some idea of what was happening in there.

Claire and Kim walked into the living room looking shocked, confused, and maybe a little scared. Rachel was standing in the doorway as if waiting for someone to follow her.

"Coming, Erick?" I had her say.

For some reason the name alone gave me a tight feeling in my stomach. It wasn't fear or the tightness that I got before I phased. It was more like the feeling of excitement and anticipation that you get before sex. The feeling of knowing something wonderful is coming.

I heard th muffled whispers of a male and a female in the kitchen. Even my wolf senses couldn't pick up more than that. It led me to wonder if they knew enough to keep their voices down. A second later, Rachel turned and walked into the living room.

I waited and watched the door for this Erick to come through. In those few moments before he came into the room, I realized that my world was hinged on the boy who was going to come through that door. I only had a second to wonder what that meant before he walked through the door.

He was tall with shoulder length curly blonde hair. A simple black t-shirt hid what looked to be a very promising and muscle bound chest-I could just imagine the six-pack abs underneath-with a pair of dark blue jeans and tennis shoes.

The minute I laid eyes on him, everything that I had been feeling just fell away. All the hurt, anger, and sadness over Emily and Sam. The jealousy over my brothers finding there loved ones. All the reasons that I needed a break and all the reasons that I couldn't take one. It was all just gone, but it was more than that. It was like none of it even mattered. In fact, it was like nothing mattered except him.

He was standing by the door whispering with Rachel, but when he felt my eyes on him, he looked up. At first, there was surprise and suspicion in those sparkling green orbs, but it soon turned to soft adoration. He smiled a large smile that lit up his entire face.

Despite the fact that I've spent my entire life trying not to be one of those girls with a high school crush, I couldn't help but smile back. I felt the blood rush into my cheeks as the embarassment of getting caught staring rushed over me. I wanted to look away, but couldn't bring myself to. I felt that if I took my eyes off him, I'd some how lose him forever.

He started walking toward me while Rachel was still talking to him. I felt the sudden urge to stand up and meet him halfway. Not wanting to look like more of an idiot than I already did, I resisted.

He stopped in front of the couch and held his hand out to me.

"I'm Erick Anderson." He said, still smiling at me as if he hadn't seen anyone quite like me before.

"Leah Clearwater." I replied trying to keep the shake out of my voice as I took his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Leah Clearwater." he answered and brought me hand to his lips. I felt the blush that had barely cooled flare up again. No man, not even Sam, had ever kissed my hand before. It was more romantic than anything with Sam.

"I'm sorry." he said pulling his hand away. "I didn't mean to embarass you."

"No," I answered with a shake of my head. "It was sweet. Thank you." I noticed that Emily had moved from the spot next to me and was whispering with Rachel. No doubt about what was happening between Erick and I. "Would you like to sit down?"

"It would be my pleasure." he answered as he sat beside me.

We sat on the couch for a few moments just staring at each other. The silence was awkward and comfortable at the same time. Comfortable because of what had just happened. Awkward, because neither of us seem to know what to say.

It was then that I realized I was still wearing the holely cut off jean shorts and sweaty dirty tank top that I had put on that morning. My hair was a mess and I smelled of sweat and dirt. So not what I wanted to look like when I finally met my soul mate. Especially when the others girls in the room looked like girls and not one of the guys.

It was that thought that sent another flush of embarassment through me. I actually mananed to tear my eyes away from him this time. I looked to the couch and started picking at a loose thread. I hadn't been staring at the couch for more than a few moments before I felt his thumb and forefinger grab my chin and force me to look back at him.

Then, as if reading my mind, he whispered,

"Don't look away. You're the most beautiful creature in this room."

**SETH**

I had a feeling that the vistors Emily told Jacob about were Rosemarie and her friend. I didn't know if it was some after effect of the imprint. Or if it was just the next logical step in this crazy and totally messed up scene. I just knew that it was going to be them.

So it was no surprise that it was Rosemarie's friend who followed the girls into the living room. No, the suprise came when Rosemarie didn't follow him. It also came with the waves of jealousy and rage that I had to fight the second I saw him. I didn't know why just seeing him effected me that way.

I had no idea what his relationship with Rosemarie was. For all I knew they could've been the kind of friends who should've been siblings. He didn't have to be a threat to me. It seemed unfair to unleash my rage on him because I simply thought they were a couple. Besides, it would be stupid to endanger the pack's secret over something that might not be a big deal.

I took a few deep breaths and tried very hard to calm myself. I didn't want to attack him without just cause. That would definitely make Rosemarie hate me before she even had a chance to know me.

It helped a lot when I saw him lock eyes with Leah and realized that she was imprinting on him. I knew then that, even if he was before, he was no longer a threat now and I couldn't have been happier about that.

I wanted to find out more about what was going on, so once I got myself under control enough to at least speak. I pushed away from the wall that I was leaning against.

"So now that everyone's here, would someone care to tell the rest of us what's going on?" I asked trying to sound nuetral and failing miserably.

Everyone just stood there shooting each other ucomfortable looks, but nobody answered me.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." I growled. "Emily calls Jacob and tells him to get home now because there are people here who want to see him. So Leah, Jacob and I rush home thinking the worst while all of you are having a nice chat with these visitors. Then we get here and Emily won't even let us get in the kitchen." I felt the anger rising as I continued me speech. I tried like hell to keep it in, but I hated being kept out of the loop. "And now, you're going to come in here with pretty boy," I couldn't help throwing in the insult. "Over there, but no Jacob, and you expect Leah and I to stay in the dark. I don't think so. Someone had better start talking."

I had found that when I was on the edge of transformation, moving around helped. Without thinking about it, I had crossed the room to stand in front of Erick and Leah and was no trying to get my breathing under control again. The anger was slowly fading.

"That's enough, Seth." Emily reprimanded falling into the mother role effortlessly. She even shot me a glare before turning to Erick. "I'm sorry about him." she said. "The past couple of weeks have been very difficult on all of us. And yours and Rosemarie's appearance hasn't helped anything."

"It's okay." Erick replied. "I understand. Rosemarie has been having her own problems these past few weeks. I've done my best for her, but..." he trailed off as if he didn't know what to say.

"It's hard." Rachel finished for him. "As a family, we've dealt with the deaths of numerous family and friends. It never gets easier and you never truly understand how to help you loved ones cope."

Erick just nodded, but I could see the lost look in his eyes. He had accepted that he couldn't get Rosemarie through whatever it was they were talking about, but he didn't like it at all. In fact, he hated the idea that he couldn't do anything to help her.

I wondered if that meant that I wouldn't be able to help her through it. The thought alone sent my mind spinning into turmoil. I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I failed her.

"Okay, now, I gotta know. What's going on?" I asked trying to keep the shake out of my voice.

Once again, everyone fell silent and shot each other uncomfortable looks. And no one would answer me. I let out a growl of frustration and was about to throw another tantrum when Erick sighed.

"My name is Erick Anderson." he said. He didn't know that I heard every word of his introduction to Leah.

"Seth." I said. He didn't offer me his hand like he had with Leah and I didn't offer him mine. I still wasn't sure how I felt about him. It all depended on the condition that I found Rosemarie in.

"Well, Seth," Erick continued. "I'm here with my best friend, Rosemarie Swan." The sound of her last name caused my eyes to widen and I heard Leah's surprised gasp. It couldn't be. Bella wouldn't have done that to Jacob. "And we're here because your friend Jacob is Rosemarie's father."

My mouth fell open in shock. I couldn't make sense of his words.

"Could you repeat that?" Leah said. I could here the disbelief in her voice.

"Your friend Jacob is my friend Rosemarie's father." he repeated slowly.

"And Isabella Swan is her mother?" Leah clarified.

"Yes."

Leah had started asking all the logical questions, but I was still trying to process this. Why would Bella not tell Jacob that he had a child? It just didn't make sense.

"Why didn't she tell him?" I asked cutting off whatever answer Erick was trying to give Leah.

"I don't know." Erick replied shaking his head. "All I know is up until just before she died, Ms. Swan had been telling Rosemarie that her father abandoned them while she was pregnant."

"The bitch!" Leah exploded. "How dare she?"

"Leah." I said glaring at her. "Bella's dead, at least show her some respect."

"Fuck that!" Leah exclaimed but I could see her attempts to control herself. "She is a lying bitch and he should know that."

"What do you mean?" Erick asked. He had the funniest expression on his face. It was like he wanted to be angry about what she was saying, but the imprint wouldn't let him. If I hadn't been so confused and worried, I probably would've laughed.

"I mean, Jacob didn't abandon anyone." Leah answered. "She is the one who slept with him once and then abandoned him. He didn't eve know he had gotten her pregnant. But what she did destroyed him so bad, if it wasn't for our friend Sam, he would've blown his head off."

"Leah!" Emily reprimanded in an almost feral manner.

"What?" Leah answered with a shrug. "I was just answering his question. He wanted to know what happened, so I told him."

"Yes, but you didn't have to add the last part." Emily responded in her motherly tone. "That's very personal information that I'm sure Jacob didn't want somebody he met less than thirty minutes ago knowing."

"I'm sorry." Leah said looking down. "I just wanted him to understand how much Bella hurt him."

Erick grabbed her chin and made her look at him.

"Don't be sorry." He told her. "I understand and I won't let him know that you told me. As long as you don't let Rosemarie find out. She'd find someone way to blame herself."

"She's definitely Bella's daughter then." I told him with a laugh. "She always blamed herself for everything, whether or not, she had anything to do with it."

"Tell me about." he responded. "Rosie's still blaming herself for not being there the day her mother died."

Everyone was silent for a moment. No one knew how to continue the conversation after that. I slid to the floor in front of the couch trying to come up with a topic change, the silence was too painful.

"Did they ever determined what caused the fire?" Emily finally got the courage to ask.

Erick opened his mouth to answer, but the door from the kitchen banged opened and Rosemarie practically ran in with tears streaming down her face.

**ROSEMARIE**

I froze the minute I locked eyes with the boy sitting in front of the couch. He was wearing a pair of cut off blue jean shorts with nothing on top. I couldn't get a good look at his chest because he was hugging it to his knees, but his face was beautiful. While he appeared to have the height of a twenty something man, his face never really lost that boyish quality. His brown eyes still held a small sparkle of innocence, even though he seemed to have to weight of a thousand years in them. As he looked at me, though, I saw concern and even a little sadness in them. I wondered if it was directed at me.

I hadn't been staring at him for more than a couple of seconds when I felt something jerk in my stomach. Something that was pulling me towards this boy. At that moment, I was too upset and hurt to think about it or try to ignore. In fact, I was running towards him before I had even made the decision to move.

I didn't know how, but it was as if he knew I was coming. He was standing with his arms stretched open, before I even went two steps. It was much faster than any human could've, but I didn't stop to puzzle it out. I simply through myself into his outstretched arms and started sobbing.

He wrapped his arms around me, holding me, and stroking my hair. He told me over and over that everything was going to be okay. I didn't believe him, but it was nice to hear it. More importantly, I felt safer, better in his arms and I was glad that he happened to be there.

I wasn't sure how long I cried before I came to my senses. I didn't think it was more than a minute or two. When I finally realized that I was clinging to a complete stranger and crying on his bare chest, I moved away. He didn't try to stop me from leaving. He just let me go. I backed away a few steps, but suddenly things felt a little more hopeless and cold. Of course, I was too embarassed to think too much about that.

"Oh my God." I said putting my hands to my face to try to cover my blush. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I was just so..."

He put a gentle finger to my lips.

"Don't worry about it, love." he whispered. "I would do anything to help a pretty girl. Including let her cry on my shoulder."

I felt the blush blazing foward again and looked down at the floor. Boys never effected me like this. In fact, I never saw them as more than just friends or idiots. I've never once had the urge to run into their arms swooning like a girl. What was wrong with me? Why did this boy have that effect on me?

"Well, thanks." I said, then trying not to sound like a total idiot, I added, "But I still feel bad. I cried and even smeared make up your shoulder and I don't even know your name."

He laughed.

"Well, I can easily wash off the make up and introduce myself." He stuck his hand out to me. "Seth Clearwater."

I took his hand and started to say, "Rosemarie Swan", at the same time he did. I pulled my hand back and gave him a confused look.

"Erick, here," he patted Erick's shoulder has been talking about you.

"And what has Erick been saying?" I asked shifting my attention to him. I crossed my arms and shot him a mock glare. He laughed and shook his head.

"Just telling them why we came here." he said. "Seth and Leah arrived with Jacob, but that's not important." He stood and wiped my tears away. I swore I heard someone let out a low growl, but I couldn't be sure. "What's wrong with you?"

"She's mad at me." Jacob's tired voice came from behind me. I turned around to see him standing in the doorway to the kitchen with his arms crossed over his chest. "I can't give her the answers she is looking for."

"Can't or won't?" I asked trying to keep my voice.

"I'm trying to protect you." he argued. "Knowing this could get you killed."

"I don't care." I told him pushing back the lump in my throat. "I want to know what happened to my mother and why. She lied to me most of my life and I have a right to know the truth."

"You're right, you do." Jacob replied, "But this is one truth that you need to stay away from. One thing that I won't let you near. No matter what it takes."

"God, this was a mistake." I shook my head and covered my eyes with my hands. I would not cry again. I just wouldn't. I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and assumed it was Erick's.

"Come on, Jake." Seth voice said from beside me. I looked up to see that it was his hand on my shoulder. That surprised me, but knowing he was in my corner made me feel better. "She's gonna find out sooner or later."

"Not unless one of you tell her, which, I forbid." he said.

I wondered what good forbidding them to do it would do. I mean, what would he do if they chose to tell me. It wasn't like he could punish them or anything. And even if he could, the damage would've already been done.

"Give me a break, Jacob." Seth pressed. "It's not us you have to worry about. She's Bella's daughter and you remember how was. Stubborn as a mule. If she wanted something, she stopped at nothing to get it. When she met Edward she..."

"That's enough, Seth." Jacob said holding up his hand. I had a feeling he was about to give something away that Jacob didn't want me to know. Seth definitely growled this time.

Rachel stepped up between us.

"Okay," she said holding her hands up and trying to keep everyone calm. "I think everyone just needs to take a little breather." She turned to us with a kind smile on her face. "Erick, Rosemarie, we are all very glad to have met you and hope that you visit again soon. Unfortunately, I think it might be best if you left."

"What?" I asked. I didn't want to leave. Partly because I wanted my answers, but mostly because I had just met my father. I didn't want to leave things like this.

"I think we all just need a couple of days to let things sink in." Rachel said. "Once we've done that, then we will revisit this discussion."

"I agree." Erick said and I turned to glare at him. "She's right, Rosie. This has been a stressful day for everyone, especially Jacob. He needs time and space. Give him that. Let him think things through before you expect answers."

"Okay." I said. "We'll go."

I didn't want to agree with him, but I knew if we stayed things would only get worse. I didn't want to fight with my day before I had a chance to really get to know him. Things were already turning out worse than I thought they would.

I didn't know what was appropriate for saying goodbye at the point, so I just turned to everyone.

"It was a pleasure meeting all of you. Thank for your hospitality." I said before turning back to Erick. "Let's go."

"Give me one minute?" Erick asked and looked back at the girl I could only assume was Leah.

I nodded and he flopped back onto the couch.

**LEAH**

When Rachel suggested Rosemarie and Erick leave, I only halheartedly agreed with her. The part of me that had spent the last sixteen years helping Jacob mend his heart understood that he needed time to wrap his mind around this and decide what to do. He didn't need to mess things up with his daughter because he never got to think things through.

Unfotunately, having them go home meant, that I had to be without my imprintee for awhile. I didn't like that idea at all. Already, just knowing that he was going to leave made me cold inside. I didn't him to go away, but I knew he had to take care of his friend first. She was just as important to him as I would be very soon. I had to let him take care of her.

So when he flopped down on the couch to say goodbye, I sighed, but let him talk.

"I'm sorry, we have to leave." he told me. "But I do want to spend more time with you and get to know you. Regardless of what happens between Rosemarie and Jacob."

"I'd like that." I told him with a smile.

"Good."

He leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. It was something that Sam had done many times over the years, but it meant so much more coming from him.

"Until next time." he whispered as he pulled away.

"Until next time." I smiled trying to hide my blush.

He bowed his head and flashed me one last smile before heading to the door where Rosemarie was waiting for him.

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? I was having a little trouble with it, but I finally figured it out. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Review and let me know what you think. **


	14. Break Me

**A/N: Okay, so I messed up the timing on this a little. I jumped the gun on Bella's transformation. I needed to give the others a little more of a conclusion before I moved to that part of th story. So this is going to replace Everything Burns as chapter 14. I hope that switch doesn't confuse anyone too much. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this one.**

**ROSEMARIE**

"I can't believe him!" I yelled nearly pulling out my hair.

We were in Erick's rented car driving home from the disasterous visit with my father. I hadn't been this angry or upset since I found my house in a pile of ashes and heard that my mother hadn't made it out. Hell, I think I was angrier now than I had been then. I didn't think anything could make me more angry than finding out that my mother was dead. It seemed a little strange to me.

If I hadn't been so angry with Jacob, I probably would've taken more time to dwell on it. As it were, I had more pressing issues to get out of my system.

"I know." Erick replied calmly. "But you need to take a deep breath and calm down."

I opened my mouth to tell him that I didn't want to calm down, but he gave me the look that told me I was being immatue and unreasonable. A look that I had gotten used to seeing from him. It was the one that always stopped me from doing or saying something that I would regret.

I closed my mouth and took a deep breath like he said. I even counted to twenty. Those two things usually calmed me easily or at least helped me control myself. It didn't have the same effect this time.

"Better?" Erick asked with his gentle smile.

"A little." I answered. "I'm still mad at him, though."

"That's understandable." Erick replied. "But could you please explain what happened after I walked out of the kitchen. That way I can give you my completely neutral and unbiased opinion of what happened."

I had forgotten that Erick didn't have the full story. I knew he needed it to work his wonderful best friend magic on me. When he knew and understood everything that was happening, he always knew exactly what to say and do to make me feel better.

As he drove, I filled him in on what happpened in the kitchen. He nodded and made noises of affirmation while I talked. He didn't interupt or try to tell me that I had done something wrong. That was something I really loved about him. He was a good listener.

He wasn't one of those people who told you that he would listen to you problems but kept interupting and putting his two cents in. He just responded enough to let you know he was listening. It was an admirable trait.

"Please don't get angry with me for saying this, but I can understand Jacob's point." Erick told me once I finished.

I couldn't help but get a little angry at that statement. He was supposed to be taking my side on this. I was his best friend after all. He was supposed to tell me that I was right and Jacob was wrong.

I didn't let it show that his words angered me, though. I could always count on Erick to tell me the truth, no matter what the situation. It was why he had been my best friend since day care. He never tried to lie to me, no matter how angry the truth made me. I respected that and tried to stay calm when he was telling me the truth. Still, I noted it was harder than usual today.

"Please explain that statement." I said trying for a cool and neutral tone.

"I know as much as you do about your mother's life in Forks." Erick replied. "We know that she was mixed up with some strange and possibly dangerous people. Jacob seems to know who these people are and how dangerous they are. I think he understands more than we do about the circumstances of your mother's death than we do. He probably knows exactly why she was killed and who killed her."

His speech really wasn't helping my anger much. In fact, it was making it worse. All he was doing was reminding me of what my father knew, but refused to tell me. That wasn't a good idea if he was trying to keep me calm.

"If you've got a point, Erick." I said through gritted teeth. "Then please make it, because I really don't want to be angry with you too."

"Right." Erick nodded as he pulled into the driveway of my grandfather's house. He shut off the engine, but neither of us got out. "All I'm trying to say is that your mother might have been caught up in worse things than we originally suspected. Things that just knowing could get you killed. Jacob is simply trying to protect you from that knowledge. He is trying to be a good father."

"But why doesn't he understand that I don't want to be protected?" I asked trying not to yell again. God, what the hell was wrong with me. I've never been this angry in my entire life.

"Because, he's your father." Erick replied with a shrug. "No parent ever feels their child doesn't need to be protected. They'll do it whether or not you want them to. It's in the parents' handbook."

I knew he added that last part as a joke in an attempt to make me laugh, but it didn't work. I didn't understand why. Usually his jokes made me laugh in every situation. It didn't seem to be working this time though. What the hell was wrong with me?

Erick must have noticed that his attempt to cheer me up hadn't worked, because he gave me one of his searching looks that told me he was using x-ray vision on me.

"Are you alright, Rosie?" Erick asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"Fine." I lied. "Can we just talk about something esle for awhile?"

I climbed out of the car then. I was afraid if I didn't give my anger some sort of outlet then it would burst out of my body. I heard Erick followed my lead.

"Okay." Erick said. "If we are going to change the subject, you mind telling me what was up with that Seth guy?"

I shrugged.

"I was upset and wasn't thinking." I replied leaning against the front of the car.

It wasn't raining for once and I wanted to enjoy the time outside. I was really starting to miss the sun. I knew now that my mother didn't stay in Forks because of the weather.

"Don't give me that." Erick answered leaning against the car beside. "You walked through that living room door and ran straight into his arms, instead of mine. There has to be some kind of an explanation of why you would run into a stranger's arms and not your best friend."

I shrugged again, but tried to explain to him how Seth made me feel.

"I don't know. All I can really say is that when I saw his face I felt a pull toward him. Something told me that everything would be better if I went to him. I was too upset to stop and think about it, so I followed the urge. And I was right. Being in his arms made me feel safe and comforted. For the first time since my mother's death, I felt like, everything would be okay and I would eventually be happy and whole again. I was content to stay in his arms forever because I knew he would protect me from anything else that tried to hurt me. I honestly felt that I had found a bit of myself that had been missing for a while."

I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder.

"Even when I realized what I was doing, I only pulled away because that was what courtesy demanded. I really didn't ever when to let him go. And when I stopped touching him, I felt the weight of it in my heart. It wasn't like a whole or an empty space or anything. More like the absence of his touch made everything harder again. I honestly can't say what the means, but I'm sure that if it was up to me I'd still be in his arms, because he makes everything better."

I continued explaining what I felt for Seth and felt the abnormal anger just seep away from me. I had no idea what was making me so angry, but just the thought and talk about Seth Clearwater had calmed me. Why would a stranger have that kind of effect on me?

"And now, I feel his absence, here." I continued putting my hand over my heart. "I don't feel hopeless or anything. It's just the weight of knowing that he isn't here right now. Hell, it even hurts a little that I had to leave him. I still feel that pull in my stomach. The one that told me to go to him in the first place. It's weird, but a good kind of weird. I just wish I knew what it meant."

Erick wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I snuggled myself into his arms.

"I think someone might be in love." He said after a minute or two of silence.

"What?" I asked unable to believe what he just said. I actually pulled away from him to stare at him in shock. "This guy is a complete stranger to me. I've never even seen him before in my life. How the can I be in love with him?"

"Haven't you ever heard of love at first sight?" He asked with a shrug.

"Yes, but you know I don't believe in it." I responded. "It is the most unreasonable thing I have ever heard."

"And since when has love been reasonable?" He questioned. "Never. I mean, look at your mother. She loved your father and this Edward guy. She married Edward, but had sex with your dad too."

His words brought the anger seeping back again. I had already wasted too much engery being angry today. I didn't want to do it anymore. Besides, the anger I was feeling right now felt wrong. I didn't want to have to think about it anymore today.

"Can we please keep this conversation away from my mom and Jacob, please?" I asked snuggling myself back into Erick's arms. "I don't want to think about them anymore today."

"Okay." He replied and kissed the top of y head. "If it makes you feel better, I feel the same way about Leah as you do about Seth."

"Which was Leah, again?" I asked.

"She was the girl on the couch." he replied. I nodded. "So it feels the same for you?"

"Pretty much." Erick replied. "I felt the pull toward her the minute I walked into the living room. When I was talking to her, I knew there was nowhere in the world that would ever compare to being next to her. You're a close second, of course." He added after a second.

"You don't have to spare my feelings." I told him. "I know you care for me."

"I just want you to know that no one will take your place as my best friend and sister."

"You never have to remind me of that. Now, go on about Leah."

"When Rachel suggested that you and I leave." He continued. "I didn't want to because I was afraid that I'd never see her again. That's why I made it a point to say goodbye and let her know I wanted to see her again. Now, that I'm away from her, it is just like what you feel for Seth. I feel a pull on my heart that is trying to lead me back in her direction. It's telling me that everything would be better if I was back with her."

I couldn't help, but smile into his shoulder. Leave it to the two of us to come to Forks looking for information about my mother and end up falling in love with a couple of strangers.

"So I guess, even if things don't work out with Jacob, we'll be staying in Forks for awhile?" I said not sure how I felt about it.

"Probably." Erick replied with a laugh.

I felt the first drop of rain hit the top of my head and sighed.

"I suppose it was too much to hope the rain would stay away for a while." I said.

Erick laughed, but grabbed my hand.

"Let's get inside before we get soaked." he told me.

I nodded and moved to follow him. The world lurched then and I was overwhelmed by a sudden spell of vertigo. My knees wobbled underneath me and I fell into Erick. He managed to catch me, even though I don't know how.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah." I answered as he helped me right myself. "I think the stress is just getting to me. I should probably lay down for awhile, though."

"Okay." he replied, unsure if I was telling the truth. "Let's get inside and I'll tuck you in."

"I'd like that."

**JACOB**

"You can't be serious, Jacob!" Seth yelled slamming his fist on the table and glaring at me. Leah, who was standing in the corner, hadn't said anything, but I could tell that she was just as outraged as her brother.

It was two hours after Erick and Rosemarie's visit. The others had waited long enough for Sam to arrive and explain what he had missed before making up some silly excuse to make themselves scarce. Sam, Seth, Leah, and I were now sitting in my kitchen discussing how we were going to handle the situation with my daughter and her friend.

"I am very serious, Seth." I replied glaring back just as hard. My arms were crossed over my chest, so he knew that I wasn't going to budge from my position. "I don't want you and Leah going anywhere near those two until I've figured out what I'm going to do about Rosemarie."

"Fuck you, Jacob." Leah snarled. "I've waited nearly a decade to feel what I felt with Erick and I'll be damned before I let anyone, even you, take that away from me."

I let out a little snort before standing up and walking over to her. I stopped in front of her, mirroring her stance and glare. Arms crossed over her chest and her eyes narrowed. It had been years since I'd see Leah this angry. I hated that I had been the one to make her look like that again, but she didn't understand how I was feeling about this. And I really didn't think she'd ever be able to.

"I could always make it an official order." I told her. "Then you wouldn't have a choice."

"Nothing can get in the way of an imprint." Leah replied with a smirk. "Not even an order from an alpha or his second."

I stepped so close to her that she was litterally backed into the corner and our faces were only a few inches apart. If it had been any of the other girls, I wouldn't have dared get that close while I was so angry and upset. I could feel the heat shiver through my body as I fought to control it. It helped that Leah was barely containing her rage as well. Maybe we would get a fight after all.

"Do you really want to test that theory?" I questioned right in her face.

She smirked raising her eyebrows and shrugging her shoulders. I knew her well enough to know this was her do-what-you-have-to-do gesture. However, I knew enough to know that she'd find a way around the order. Those two thoughts pissed me off more than anything else that had happened that morning.

I felt my anger start to get the better of me even as I tried to swallow it. I really didn't want to get into it with Leah. She had been my best friend since that horibble day when I almost took my life. I didn't want something this stupid to ruin it, but I didn't want anything to screw up my daughter's life. Not even our secret. I couldn't risk it. She had already lost her mother. I couldn't let her lose more.

"Jacob!" I heard Sam's voice take on the human equivalent to his alpha tone. "Back off and calm yourself now!"

I didn't even try to fight the order. I took a breath and stepped away from Leah as I counted to thirty.

"Leah, Seth, would you two please excuse Jacob and I for a minute?" Sam continued in his normal voice. Leah looked at him like she thought he was taking my side and Seth opened his mouth to protest. Sam held his hand up with a sigh. "We will discuss the imprint thing more in a few minutes. I need to make sure Jaob doesn't do something he'll regret."

Neither tried to protest again, they simply nodded and walked into the living room.

"First of all, you know very well your orders as second only stick if they are backed by me." Sam said trying to get himself under control. "Secondly, how could you think I would condone the idea of keeping a brother and sister away from the objects of the imprint. Especially Leah of all people. You have no idea what she, Emily, and I went through when I imprinted."

"I have a better idea than you'd think. I see it from both sides every damned day." I yelled back. I managed to get a handle on my beast, but kept my anger on the suface. I wasn't ready to let go of that yet. "It never shuts off for either of you. It's like watching the same movie over and over again."

Sam shook his head and let out a cynical laugh.

"It's not the same as truly living it." he replied. "What you see is memories and residual feelings. You weren't close enough when it all fell apart. It destroyed a little bit of all of us. Leah the most. How can you try to deny her some happiness after all of that?"

"It's about more than just the imprint and you know it." I growled back.

He sighed and sank into a chair.

"I know." he told me. "But if you keep them apart that's slowly going to destroy all four of them. I know you don't want that."

"Of course, I don't." My anger was fizzling out considering he seemed to understand my side of things. "But if the imprint progresses, Rosemarie's gonna find out everything."

"What's wrong with that?" Sam asked reasonably.

I sighed as I sat in the chair opposite Sam rubbing my temples. I had this exact same conversation with Rachel just after Rosemarie and Erick left. She didn't understand. I wasn't sure Sam would either.

"Because it's dangerous information, you know that." I told him. "What if the Volturi are watching her? What if the are waiting for her to find out the truth? They'd probably kill her or worse. God, I don't even want to think about what they could be doing to Bella if she's still alive. It would kill me to think of my own flesh and blood in that position."

"First off," Sam sighed. "Do you really think that your brothers and I would allow them to hurt her? You should know that we'd do everything in our power to protect her. Even if it means dying."

"I do know that, but I don't want you guys to die either."

"It's our duty to protect our tribe from vampires, even if it means dying. Even if Rosemarie wasn't your daughter, she still has tribe blood, which means that she has our protection, no matter what."

I sighed and shook my head. It was about so much more than the danger to her. I just didn't know how to explain it. Everything had just gotten so messed up. I didn't understand how it could all fall apart so fast.

"It's so much more than that, though." I told him. "Rosemarie is an inoccent sixteen year-old girl. She doesn't have any idea of the horrors that are out there. If we keep this secret from her, then she can stay that way forever. She can finish growing up and being normal. She doesn't have to be stuck here in this town forever or deal with the fact that the monster in the closet are real. She can just be human. She can get over her mother's death. She can be happy. That's all I'd ever want for any of my children."

"That's fair and understandable." Sam nodded. "It's all I'd want for my kids, but, at this point, it can't be about what you want, Jacob. You have to think about what Rosemarie wants and needs. Keeping her in the dark, might be what's best for her, but at what cost?"

I didn't sat anything to that. I was pretty sure that I knew where he was going with this. Unfortunately, when Sam gets into lecture mode, there is nothing you can do except let him say what he needs to say. There was no point in trying to counter his arguement until I let him make it.

"The poor girl is barely seventeen and has already had to go through the experience of losing her mother." Sam continued as I knew he would. "It doesn't help that it was in one of the most violent and painful ways imaginable. Top that off with the fact that her mother left a letter that pretty much told Rosemarie that she was murdered and that Rosemarie, herself, has been lied to for half her life and you get one very confused and hurt teenager. One who needs answers.

"You could ignore those questions and try to make her believe that Bella's death was actually an accident, but do you know what will happen if you do that?" I shook my head, even though I had a pretty good idea of what would. "First, she'll continue to be angry with you for ignoring her questions and treating her like a child. She stopped being a child at her mother's memorial."

"I know that, but..." I foolishly started to say.

"Let me finish." He cut me off. I sighed, but knew arguin was useless. "She's Bella's daughter and that has implications of its own. You know how stubborn Bella was. When she made up her mind about something, she didn't let it go. Upon arriving in Forks and discovering that Edward Cullen and his family had a secret, she became determined to find out what that secret was. She researched and asked questions until she had enough information to put everything together. The same thing happened after your first transformation. She knew there was something strange going on and didn't stop asking questions and looking for those answers until you gave them to her. Do you really think that Rosemarie is going to be any different?"

"I suppose not." I sighed. I didn't add the fact that it was exactly what I had been hoping for.

"And I hope you realize that it would be more dangerous for her to stumble upon the answers on her own than if she had someone to explain everything to her. If the Volturi are watching and she gets enough information to figure everything out, there will be no one to protect you from those monsters. And they'll end up doing to her and her friend what they did to Bella, despite your best efforts to keep her safe. Not to mention they fact that if she's finds out that her mother was in love with a couple of monsters and her father is one of those monsters, how do you think she'll react?"

"She'd probably be terrified and not want anything to do with me or either of us." I sighed understanding the truth of his words. "But she could still end up that way if we're straight with her."

"Not if Seth and Leah are there to act as buffers." Sam replied. "The imprint keeps the imprintee from being scared of us as wolves and I know that from experience. Emily tells me all the time that she has never felt safer than when she is in my arms. And that's even after..."

He trailed off and I knew that he was getting lost in the memory of the time he attacked Emily. Abiding by the guy code, I simply sat there in silence and let him have his moment.

"Besides," He continued after a minute. "From what Seth and Leah say, Rosemarie has already seen Seth in wolf form. I haven't seen into there memories, yet, but I get the impression that she was comforted by him, even in that form."

"She was." I informed him. He shot me a questioning look. "When Emily called and said we had visitors, Seth, Leah, and I decided to run home. Even in the midst of a crisis, Seth had a hard time keeping his mind off of her."

Sam nodded.

"Yeah, it is like that in the beginning. They'll eventually learn to use it as a way to stay focused when they need to."

"Back to the point at hand, though." I said. We needed to figure out what we were going to do about Rosemarie. We could talk about the specifics of the imrpint later. "I understand what you are saying, I do. I know she'd be in more danger if she was left to find out everything on her own. And I know how it could destroy any chance she and I have at having any kind of relationship. But it is clear from the letter that Bella doesn't want her know any of this. I want to respect Bella's final wishes for her daughter."

"That's bull and you know it." Sam stated. "We both know that if Bella didn't want Rosemarie to know the truth, she wouldn't have sent the girl to Forks. She knew there would be no keeping this stuff from her when she started unraveling the truth. I'm sure Bella realized that it was only a mattered of tim before Rosemarie found out everything. And she wanted Rosemarie to be here where we could protect her. And even if that wasn't the case, Bella is, for all intents and purposes dead, and she isn't coming back. Rosemarie is alive and asking questions.

"I know you want to respect her memory and I respect that, but in this situation you have to think about the person left behind. Bella's wants and needs aren't important anymore. It has to be about Rosemarie right now. She's hurt and confused. She needs her answers, despite what Bella's letter says."

I shook my head and put it in my hands. I knew he was right, but that didn't make any of this any easier. There were so many reasons that I wanted to keep my daughter out of this world, but I knew I couldn't and that hurt. more than anyone could ever imagine. Especially because I knew the telling her the truth was going to be inevitable. I knew it was only a matter of time before her genetics caught up with her.

"You're right." I told Sam taking my head out of my hands and staring at him. "But you forgot the most important argument."

He gave me a knowing smile.

"Because I know that's why you're figthing this so hard." he told me. "It's not about her safety or Bella's wishes. It never has been. You don't want her to become one of us and you think that if you push her away, then she'll leave Forks before she gets to close to the vampires."

I nodded because, once again, he was able to hit my emotions on the head.

"But, if the Volturi, was responsible for what happened to her mother then she has already been exposed." Sam continued. "It's only a matter of time. If she leaves and changes anyway, she could hurt herself, or others. Hell, she could kill her best friend by complete accident. I'm sure you don't want that."

I shook my head. I understood what he was saying, but I still didn't know how I felt about my daughter becoming one of us. I hated that part of myself, a lot. Yes, I accepted it a long time ago, but I hated it. I didn't want my daughter to have to go through the same thing.

"Besides, she is a direct descendant of Ephriam Black, just like you, if she leaves, then our future generation will be left without an alpha." Sam continued.

"I suppose I don't have much of a choice, then." I responded looking up from the table.

"I'm sorry." Sam clapped a hand on my shoulder. "I wish you did."

We were silent for a long time as I let everything sink in. Rosemaire needed to know the truth. She had a right to know what happened to her mother and find out her family heritage. Especially one as dangerous as her. As much as I didn't want her to know any of it, I needed to tell her all of it. I just didn't know how I was going to do it.

"Can I ask one favor, though?" I asked looking up at Sam.

"Of course." Sam responded.

"I know I can't keep Leah and Seth away from Erick and Rosemarie forever." I said. "But, I need time to figure out how I'm going to tell Rosemarie. Could we ask them to stay away until I've decided what I'm going to say?"

"That can be done." he responded.

"Thank you." I sighed and stood unsure of what to do next.

"I'll talk to Seth and Leah." Sam stated. "Why don't you go for a walk and clear your head?"

"That sounds like a good idea." I answered and headed toward the backdoor.

"And Jake, we don't have to do this right away. We could give it a few days."

"I know." I responded.

I walked out the door wishing that I didn't have to do it at all.

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? **


	15. Everything Burns

**A/N: This is another chapter that I have been waiting for. I've been working this one since I figured out where I wanted to go with Bella's part of the story. I hope you guys enjoy this. Fo those of you who see this chapter before the real chapter 14. I messed up on the timelines and had to switch chapters 14 and 15. I hope that doesn't mess anyone up.**

**BELLA**

I didn't how long the burning lasted and I didn't think I cared. It could've been days. Or weeks. Or months. Hell, it could've been years. Time didn't seem important. What was important was the pain. It overrode everyone of my senses and thoughts.

I had been vaguely aware of the fact that I was laying on a soft bed, but that was the most sense I had of anything. I laid there writhing in pain, begging for someone to make it stop or put me out of my misery. No one seemed to be listening or they just didn't want to do what I asked of them. Either way, I hated them for it.

There was some dim thought that there was a reason for the burning. I had a sense that there was some expected outcome. Something that was worth going through this kind of pain, but I couldn't remember what it was. And it would've been stupid for me to ty to concentrate on something other than the pain.

When it finally ended, I thought it was either a miracle or someone had finally listened to me. Either way, I was grateful and a little scared. As much as I had wanted the pain to end, I didn't want to be dead. There was enough left of me to know that I didn't want to be dead. I feared I was though. It was the only logical outcome for all of that pain and burning.

I laid there with my eyes closed and prayed that I was still alive. I felt and heard the air whoosh through my lungs as I laid there. That was a good sign. I hadn't heard my heart pumping in the entire time that I had been laying there, though. I knew that one wasn't good. In fact, that part made me panic a little. If my heart wasn't beating how was I still breathing?

I noticed as I breathed, though, there was a burning sensation running down my throat. It felt like some had dumped still cooling ashes down my throat and they were burning every part of it. I didn't like that feeling, but it made it clear that I wasn't dead. Dead people don't feel pain.

As I laid there trying to decide if I wanted to open my eyes or not, I started hearing voices. Voices that sounded like wind chimes on the air. I figured they'd be the most beautiful things that I had ever heard, if I had remembered ever hearing anything else.

"Is she okay?" one voice asked. The voice was full of concern, sadness, and love. I wondered if he was talking about me. I tried to remember if anyone had ever loved me, but nothing came to mind. I was sure he was referring to someone else. "Did it work?"

"Relax, Felix." a second voice. This one slow and quiet, like he was trying not to disturb something, or someone. I wondered again if that was me. "The tranformation was successful and she is going to be just fine."

"Then how come she stopped writhing and screaming five miutes ago and she had yet to make a move or even open her eyes?" the first voice, Felix, questioned. He sounded extremely agitated and a little scared.

Was he scared for me? Should I have opened my eyes to let him know that I was alright? I decided not. I didn't know these men that were talking about me. Nor did I know what they were talking about. What did they mean transformation? No, I'd wait until they left, then I would get up and figure out what had happened.

As I laid there considered my options and the best course of action, I heard almost inaudible footsteps coming towards the bed.

"I wouldn't do that Felix." the second voice stated. "She's been through a very traumatic ordeal. It't likely she won't remember what happened." What did he mean? What had happened to me? "And it is probable that she won't even remember you or us. We have to be careful. We don't want to scare her away from us."

"I understand, Master." Felix replied. "But I need to be sure that she is alright for myself."

I didn't know if the second voice was going to reply, because a second later I felt someone's hand brush my forehead as if he was pushing hair out of my face. My defensive instincts kicked in then.

My eyes snapped open and I was staring into the face of tall man with broad shoulders and muscles that would make any weight lifter cry. He was pale with dark circles under his eyes. The eyes were crimson red and filled with love and concern.

Despite what his eyes said, my instincts told me this red eyed man was dangerous and I followed y instincts. I knew I needed to put distance between this man and I. Oddly enough, I hadn't even made the conscious decision to move, but I ended up in the corner of the room a second later. I was huddled down with my knees to my chest and my arms hugging myself. I was in a position to see everyone in the room.

Felix and the other man weren't the only ones in the room. There were four other men and a girl. Of the six men, one could have been considered just a boy. He didn't look much older than fifteen or sixteen. Neither did the girl. All of them were just as pale as Felix with the same dark circles under their crimson colored eyes. That was were their likenesses ended.

If I hadn't been so intent on Felix and protecting myself from him, I would've been able to tell you everything they were wearing. My senses were just that intuned, but my survival instincts overrode everything else.

Felix started walking toward me with his hand outstretched.

"Bella, I..." he started.

I wondered for a moment who Bella was. It took me a second to remember, but I finally pulled the information out. I was Bella, but that's all I could remember. And it was frustrating me. I growled at Felix who was coming closer.

He froze and I could see pain and sadness falsh across his face. I wondered who I was to him that my rejection made him so upset.

"Felix, it is as I feared." the man with the second voice said. "She doesn't remember anything and she's scared and confused. Perhaps you should back off for a moment."

"But, how can she not remember me Aro?" he asked and I swear his voice cracked. It sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

I tried to force myself to remember this man. It seemed really important to him. So important that I thought it should be important to me to. I couldn't get bring up anything. My mind was just a blank until the burning started. I was vaguely aware of the fact that thinking this hard should've been giving me a head ache, but it hadn't. Why hadn't it?

I rubbed at my temples.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked. My throat burned as I spoke and my words came out hoarse. I supposed I really needed some water. "Why can't I remember?"

Aro looked back at me with a sigh as Felix joined the others against the wall. Aro had a kind and gentle smile on his face, but there was concern and fear in his eyes. It took me less than a second to realize that everyone in the room shared the same looks. Who was I to these people that they would be so concerned about me?

"I know you're really confused, m'dear." Aro said gently. "And I know you probably have many questions, but there are more important things to address at the moment. We must take care of your needs first?"

"My needs?" I asked and the pain in my throat flared again. I caughed trying to clear the pain.

Aro touched his throat and said,

"You haven't had anything to drink. You must be in agony."

The pain flared again when he mentioned the word drink. I reached my hand up to my throat and let out a little whimper.

"It hurts." he soothed. "I know. Come with me and together we can make the pain stop."

He crossed the room to me and held out his hand. I knew he intended to help me up and lead me some place where I could get water. I looked at his hand and back to his face. He was trying to help me and I appreciated him for it. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember enough to know if I could trust him, yet. He hadn't yet given me a reason not to trust him, but he hadn't proven that he could be trusted either.

"You don't tust me." he said as if reading my mind. "I understand. That's okay. We'll just have your drink brought to you. Jane, would you and Heidi please go pick up something for Bella, please. We don't want her to be in pain."

Theb only girl in the room rolled her eyes, but said,

"Of course, Master."

"Thank you."

Jane bowed her head and disappeared from the room.

"Unfortunately, it's going to take them a little while to get something sufficient for your first drink." His words confused me, but talking hurt too much to question him. "So why don't we talk a little while we wait."

I nodded, but didn't speak. He smiled and took a step back.

"Please, have a seat on the bed." he invited walking back to the wall where the others stood. "We wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable."

I pushed myself slowly up from the wall watching all of them. I still didn't know what was going on and if I could trust any of these people. They hadn't offered me hostility, yet, but my survival instincts were telling me that I should keep my eyes opened while I was around them.

I walked slowly to the bed and sat on it. I pulled my knees up and hugged them too my chest. I wasn't sure why, but making myself as small as possible seemed like such a good idea.

The others hadn't moved from their spots against the far wall. They were keeping their distance. I didn't understand why, but they didn't want to get close to me. They, however, were staring at me with worried and painfilled expressions.

Felix was the only one who wasn't staring at me. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest staring at the floor. I could feel the hurt and sadness radiating off him. I tried to remember why my rejections of him would've caused him that much pain, but I couldn't come up with anything.

I felt the frustration threatening to boil over, but I wouldn't let it. I just had to talk to these nice people and figure out exactly what was going on. Maybe they could help me remember something.

I turned my head to look at Aro, who seemed to be the leader of everything. The one who had all the answers for me.

"Why can't I remember?" I asked trying to ignore my still burning throat.

"You've been through a ery traumatic experience." Aro replied softly. "You're mind was trying to protect itself. Unfortunately, the trauma of the transformation only made the memory lose worse."

The worse transformation had me confused. What transformation?

"Wait a second." I asked trying to stay calm, but I felt myself panicking. "What transformation?"

Aro sighed, but gave me a patient smile.

"M'dear, you are a vampire." He told me gently.

I gave him a look the clearly said I didn't believe him.

"Vampires aren't real." I said slowly and calmly.

"Yet, here we are and here you are." Aro replied gesturing to his friends.

I shook my head unwilling to believe it.

"Vampires are just myths made up to scare little kids." I answsered.

"And all myths have a basis of truth, Little One." he said patiently. "Just take a look at me and my friends. Think about everything that has happened to you since you've been awake."

I thought about the six men standing in front of me. Their pale skin and the dark circles under their crimson eyes. Even the defensive way the stood watching me. It wasn't open hostility, but they were all prepared for a fight if it came to that.

I also thought about myself. I remembered the interminable burning as I laid on the bed begging for death and the burning that never truly recinded in my throat. I considered how it didn't take me more than a simple thought to get from one side of the room to the other. I thought about how I could see every dust mite in every line of the wood in the floor. And how I could hear people talking outside the room and possibly through out the rest of this place.

There was no other logical explanation for what I was feeling or seeing. Still, I couldn't make myself believe it. Vampires didn't exist. I couldn't remember anything about my life up until the moment the burning started, but that fact seemed like an important thing to hold on to.

"No." I said shaking my head, trying desperately to squeeze out the tears that I desperately needed to shed. "I can't...It doesn't..." I couldn't make a complete sentence.

"If you want more proof of what you are, you'll get it when Jane returns with your little treat." Aro said trying to soothe me.

Those words froze me and caused me to look back at Aro. I imagined my expression was somewhere between horror and anger. I felt something tight in my chest just waiting to snap. I didn't let it though. I couldn't afford a break down until I knew eveything that was going on.

"And what exactly is Jane bringing back for me?" I asked slowly.

"I think you know the answer to that question, Little One." he said softly.

He was right. I knew exactly what Jane had gone out to get and the thought horrified me. Vampires had to drink human blood to survive. Most often times, they had to kill the human to get enough to sustain him. I didn't want to kill a human. Despite my memory loss, I assumed that I had been human up until the burning started. I wouldn't have wanted some monster drinking me to keep himself alive. Besides, I knew deep down that I wasn't a killer.

"I can't." I said. It was the strongest my voice had been since I woke up. "I won't. Nobody deserves to die to keep somebody else alive."

Aro let out another patient sigh.

"I assure you, m'dear," he said placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to kill anyone. You could honestly stop anytime. But I can garuntee that when it gets here and you taste the blood, you won't want to stop." I didn't say anything just placed my cheek on my knees and turned away from him. "Besides, you are a hunter now. A predator. And the humans are your prey. They are your food and deserve no sympathy. They are the weaker being and the sooner you see this the better you'll be."

I still didn't respond. I just stared at the wall trying to let his words sink in. I knew they were more or less right. This world was all about survival of the fitest and humans ate animals all the time, didn't they? Vampires eating humans wasn't much different, was it? I had never been an animal, though, maybe that's why the thought bothered me more. All I knew was that I didn't want to have to kill a human to survive. Hell, I didn't even think I wanted to be a vampire. I wanted to remember how I got here and why. I wanted to know how all this happened.

"Who did this to me?" I said slowly trying to keep my voice even. The string was getting tighter the longer this conversation went on. I knew it was going to snap soon if I kept getting answers that hurt and upset me.

"I did." Aro said calmly placing a hand on my shoulder. And that did it. The string snapped.

I was off the bed and world around facing him before I had even decided to move. I placed my hand around his throat and slammed him hard into the wall. I heard movement behind me and knew the others were going to try to stop me. Aro held up a hand to call them off. The movement ceased, but I kept tabs on them in the back of my head.

"Why?" I growled trying not to pull his head off. "Why did you change me?"

Before he could answer, I heard more movement behind me. I turned my head so I could see who was approaching me. It was Felix and he had his hands up. I supposed it was his way of letting me know that he wasn't going to hurt me.

"Because I asked him to." he said quietly. "Begged him to."

He was staring at me with those painfilled and concerned eyes, but there was now a certain sadness and fear to them that broke my heart. I, once again, wracked my brain trying to remember why this man would be so concerned about me. Nothing came to mind.

"And who am I to you?" I asked trying to understand. "Why would you care what happens to me?"

Felix reached out and rubbed my cheek with his hand.

"The fact that you have to ask me that question, hurts more than you'll ever know, my love."

His words shocked me so much that I released Aro and turned my full attention to Felix. I stared at him trying to make sense of his words. I recognized them as words I heard before. Some one said them to me often, but it felt like so long ago, I couldn't be sure who it was. For all I knew, it could've been Felix, but I didn't know for sure.

I turned to Aro with a furrowed brow. He was standing as if what I had done was completely normal. Like it hadn't bothered him at all that I had almost ripped his head off. He sighed, but gave me his patient smile.

"Felix is your mate." he said calmly.

I looked back at Felix. His eyes were still filled with hurt and sadness, but they filled with hope as I stared at him. I had no memory of this man at all. Unless you counted the fact that he was the one who woke me up. I didn't know if Aro had been telling me the truth or not. Still, I didn't think Aro was lying to me. What reason would he have for doing that?

"We met about three agos while you were on vacation here in Italy." Felix said slowly. I had a feeling he was trying to help me remember. I listened carefully hoping this would help. "You were at a night time exhibit at the museum and I was running errands for Aro. It was love at first site."

He paused looking at me expectantly. I knew he was checking to see if anything he said rang a bell. When I nodded for him to continue he understood that I still didn't have a clue who he was. He sighed and continued,

"We spent every waking moment of that first week together. We watched movies in your hotel and had romantic dinners and the finest resturaunts. I told you the truth about myself at the end of that week. You were scared, at first, but eventually you decided that you didn't care."

I wasn't sure I believed that part-I didn't think I could ever be comfortable with someone who ate my fellow humans on a daily basis-but the rest of it was believable. Maybe, I had been in love and that love was blind.

"You told that you wanted to be with me forever." Felix continued and I could hear the sadness in his voice. "That's why I brought you back here and introduced you to my vampire family." He gestured to those standig around us. "And asked if you could stay with us. Aro, who had wanted nothing less than my happiness, agreed, as did the others."

I watched Felix's face as he talked. I had no way of knowing if he was telling me the truth or not. I had no memory of him or anything before the fire started. Still, I was sure that I could tell from his face expressions how much of the story was true. So far, his eyes, face, and voice radiated nothing, but sincerity.

"We allowed you to move in with Felix and did what needed to be done to care for and protect you." Aro picked up where Felix had left off. "It wasn't an easy transition for any of us, though. None of us had ever been aound a human that we weren't allowed to eat. And some of us, lacked a certain control. There were some near misses where Felix almost had to kill one of his own to save you."

I flinched at the thought, even though I was unsure of the truth. It didn't make sense to me. If it had been that much trouble why didn't they just take care of the problem.

"So if it was such a difficult process, why not make me one of you right away?" I asked with a shrug. "That way Felix and I could've been together and nobody had to suffer."

Aro nodded with a sad smile.

"It was an idea that I had considered and discuss with Felix many times." he answered.

"But I refused to allow it every time." Felix finished.

"Why?" I asked, confused. "It would've made everything a lot easier for everyone."

"That is true." he replied with a nod. "But I was selfish and I valued your humanity. I loved feeling your heartbeat against my chest after we made love. I loved your warm skin and the rush of blood to your cheeks when you were embarassed. I loved every bit of you that made you human. That made you you. I didn't want to lose that, no matter what it meant for my family."

As he talked I considered his words. I had no memory of him ever saying them, but they felt right and familiar. Like I had heard them somewhere before, many times. I was sure that I had this conversation with someone on an ocassion or two. I just couldn't remember if it had been with Felix or not and that seemed really important.

Still, as he spoke, I didn't get a sense that he was lying or trying to make me believe half truths. He was sincere from the inside or out, so why shouldn't I have believed what he was saying? I didn't know, but something felt off.

"So what changed your mind?" I asked softly. My frustration had calmed a little now that I was getting some answers. I was still angry that I could remember, but at least I had people to tell me what was going on. "If you fought it for so long with everything that was at stake, why did you suddenly decide this is what you wanted?"

He sighed and looked down at the bed. I could tell with that simple gesture that whatever he was about to tell me wasn't going to be good. Fear and more frustration spiked in my stomach as I thought about all the things that he was about to say. I tried to calm myself with deep breaths.

"It wasn't a choice." Felix answered. "At least, not one that wanted. If it were tuly up to me, you'd still be human right now. We'd be lying wrapped in each other's embrace and laughing. We wouldn't be sitting here trying get you to remember who we are."

He didn't look at me as he said all of this. He just kept staring at the bed. I had a sudden urge to comfort him. I didn't know where it came from, considering my mind didn't know him from Adam. It seemed my heart might've known what my head couldn't remember.

I reached out a shaky hand and stroked the back of his gently. He didn't look at me. He did, however, flip his hand palm up. I placed my hand in his and entwined our fingers. I didn't know what it meant, but something about this felt right.

"About six months ago," Aro said when it appeared the Felix wasn't going to answer my question. "A friend visited us. It was the first time this friend came to visit since you joined us and he brought his son along. His became infatuated with you the second he saw you. So much so, that by the end of the visit, he was offering me money to take you with him. He treated the situation as if you were some kind of slave or servant to be passed around at my will."

He said the last with a curled lip as if the thought disgusted him. I didn't think that he would have any qualms about treating humans that way. I mean, according to him, they were the weaker species. I imagined he would try to get away with it, but maybe, I had misjudged him.

"I, of course, told him that you were no such thing. I explained that you were family and we loved you. We wouldn't give you up for any amount of money." he continued as I stared at him. My hand was still entwined with Felix's and I didn't feel like moving it yet. "I did, however, make it clear that you could leave anytime you wish with whom ever you wished. We weren't keeping you prisoner."

I nodded glad that he acknowledged that fact. I think I was a little worried that for all the talk about loving and caring about me, they wanted to keep me locked up for some reason.

"He, of course, appealed to you." Aro continued. "And you told him that you loved Felix and had no intention of leaving him. He didn't like being told no, though, and things got a little rough. Felix had to kick him out and he was told he was no longer welcome in our home. We assumed that was the end of it."

He stopped as if finding the will to finish the story was difficult.

"But it wasn't." I said.

I still didn't know if I should believe what they were saying or not, but I couldn't help being drawn into the story. Everything sounded so sincere and believable that I couldn't discount it.

"Not by a long shot." Felix finally spoke again. I turned my attention back to him and he was finally looking up. "He spent the months after his visit making offer after offer. Money, jewels, other human girls. As if you could be replaced." The indignance in his voice made it difficult not to believe him. "I finally told him that nothing he could offer me would make me want to give you up. You mean the world to me, Bella and I would do anything for you."

He ran the pal of his hand down my cheek and I couldn't help but snuggle into it.

"I guess he didn't like that answer, did he?" I questioned.

"Not one bit." Felix answered with a sigh.

"What did he do?" I asked suddenly fearing the answer. Felix opened his mouth, closed it and looked back at the bed.

I appealed to Aro who seemed to be picking up when it became too had for Felix.

"About three or four weeks ago, Felix went out for a hunt while you were sleeping one night." Aro continued. "You weren't left alone. We cared about you too much to risk that, but that didn't seem to be enough. When Felix left, you were asleep in your bed, but when he returned, you were gone."

He closed his eyes and sighed as if the memory pained him. I drew my knees to my chest and pulled my hand free of Felix's. I hugged my knees again trying to make myself as small as possible again. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like the rest of this story.

"We knew immediately what had happened." Aro went on. "So we searched the whole place for any trace of him or sign of how he got to you. We found nothing and assumed that he had outside help."

I nodded unsure if I wanted him to continue. I knew, though, if I had any hope of remembering that I would have to hear him out.

"We spent weeks searching for you." Felix said finding his voice again. "We looked everywhere we thought he might take you and finally found you about to weeks ago. We pulled our entire army and went to get and destroy the man who hurt you. Unfortunately, he has a psychic friend who saw us coming and he took the cowards way out."

"What do you mean?" I asked my voice small and scared.

"He left you tied up and broken in a cave while he ran." Felix responded and I shuddered. He brushed some hair behind my ear. "I'm so sorry."

"It took us a week to find you in the cave." Aro continued allowing Felix to comfort me. "Your body was mangled. You were dehydrated and half starved. You were dying. The only way we could've saved you was to turn you."

I nodded and took the time to let his words sink in. I still wasn't sure if I could believe what they were saying. Something just didn't sound or feel right about it. Still, the had been nothing but kind to me since I woke up and showed no signs of hostility. I didn't think they would have any reason to lie to me about any of this, but I still wished I had my own memories from comfirmation.

I tried thinking back, again. Back before the burning when things had been less complicated. Unfortunately, all I got was a blank. One would think if something that traumatic had happened to them, they'd be able to remember.

"So why can't I remember any of it?" I asked again. "Why can't I remember any of you?"

"It was a very traumatic experience for you." Aro replied calmly. "By the time we got to you, your mind was well on its way to protecting itself. We think the stress of the transformation, among other things, prevented you from remembering anything before this all started."

"What do you mean, among other things?" I asked. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I already knew the answer.

"I can't answer that question positively." Aro replied coming to sit behind me on the bed. He even placed a light hand on my shoulder. "You were so close to being dead when we found you that if we had taken time to access your injuries, you wouldn't have made it. However, judging by what we could see, he violated you, several times. And when you fought back, he beat the hell out of you. We assume that you took some rough blows to the head causing the memory loss."

I heard the rest of his speech, but it didn't make sense to me. My brain had fozen on violated. The words tickled something in my brain. A memory that wasn't really a memory.

"And by violated you mean..." I stopped not wanting to say the words.

"He raped you." Aro whispered placing another hand on my shoulder.

An image suddenly flaired into my mind. A faceless and cold someone on top of me. He was pinning me to the floor as he pumped himself mercilessly in and out of me. I screamed and begged for him to stop. I was struggling, but he just laughed, smacked me, and continued to pump himself into me.

My stomach turned with the half memory and I felt the urge to throw up. I leaned over the bed and tried to push out the nonexistent contents of my stomach, but all I managed was dry heaves that eventually turned into dry sobs.

I wasn't leaning over the bed long before I felt strong cold arms wrap around me and pull me to a body. I was tense at first scared of whoever might be touching me.

"It's okay, love." Felix whispered and I relaxed a little. "It's okay. He can't hurt you anymore. I won't let him. We won't let him." He soothed me and stroked my hair gently.

I didn't understand it, but I felt safe in his arms. Maybe my heart really did recognize him. Or maybe I was falling into something that I wasn't sure I wanted to be in. It didn't matter right then, though. All that mattered was that he was there telling me that it would be okay.

I wasn't sure how long I sobbed into his chest before something occured to me. I pushed away from Felix and looked him in the eye.

"Who is this man?" I asked slowly and as calmly as I could manage. "What is his name?"

As I asked the question, I saw all the pain and sadness drain from Felix's eyes. It was replaced with an anger so terrifying that I'm glad it wasn't directed at me. His eyes narrowed into slits and, in a growl that would make any dog jealous, he said,

"Edward Cullen."

"And what happened to him?" I asked, because that seemed important. Felix had said that he couldn't hurt me anymore and I wanted to make sure he wasn't lying.

He looked away as if disappointed in himself. I reached my hand out and made him face me. I wasn't going to accuse him of anything or be angry about it, but I had to know. He put his hand on my cheek.

"We don't know." he answered. "We haven't seen him since he got away from us. And we've had every available man looking for him since that day. I promise you, we will find him."

"And what will happen when you do?" I questioned. I don't know why, but that seemed important.

"Aro will find out who his accomplices were and destroy him." Felix answered. "Then we will hunt down the accomplices as well. I swear there won't be a single person who aided in hurting you that won't suffer and die for it."

"Good." I replied snuggling back into his chest. "Good."

**A/N: Well, what do you think? I worked hard on this one. Please, review. I'm getting a little hurt by the lack of response. Please send me some love. **


	16. While Everyone Screams

**A/N: Okay, now we are back to after Bella's transformation. Jacob has taken the last three days to let everything about Rosemarie sink in and decide exactly how he wanted to tell her everything. Also, Bella's part of this chapter is going to be a few minutes ahead of everyone else's, but you'll see why later. **

**BELLA**

I stayed curled up in Felix's arms for a very long time contemplating everything that he and Aro had told me. To be honest, I wasn't at all sure how I felt about any of it. Hell, I wasn't even sure that I believed them.

I didn't know why that was. They hadn't offered me anything but kindness and support. Even when I had tried to hurt Aro, no one retaliated. They seemed to understand what I was going through. Besides, the snatches of things I was getting from before the burning started, seemed to match what they were telling me.

It bothered me that I couldn't remember everything, though. It really bothered me. It felt like I was missing something very important. I wanted to question them about it, but I was afraid to. Regardless of anything else, they were all I had right now. If I told them that I didn't trust them, they could boot me out on principle alone. If that happened, I would have no where to go. I didn't think my new temperment could handle it. Besides, they had yet to give me no reason to trust them.

I did the only thing I could, I held on to Felix praying it was the right thing.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there clinging to him as he whispered soothing words into my ear before a small sniffle brought the slowly dying fire burning back down my throat. It now felt like someone shoved a red hot poker down it.

I didn't understand what the smell was exactly or why it made the burning that much worse. Honestly, it was a wonderous smell. It was like a mix of wildflowers and berries. So sweet and beautiful at the same time.

I popped my head off Felix's chest and sniffed the air again. It was a lot stronger than before and I felt some instinct take over. It was more animal than anything else. I heard Aro laugh and, if I hadn't suddenly become a slave to this new instinct, I would've noticed something was off.

I took another whiff and couldn't control myself any longer. I shoved Felix backwards and barely noticed his surprised yell or the sound of him toppling off the bed as I bounded towards the door. I heard Aro let out another self satisfied chuckle before I ripped the door open.

Jane stood before me holding a young girl by her hair. She couldn't have been much older than fifteen or sixteen. The hair Jane was holding was died blonde with brunette roots popping out. A pink camisole framed her petite body, but emphasized her C-cup breasts. Her torn and dirty blue jeans told me that she had put up a fight against Jane. She had even lost both her shoes in the struggle.

She had a pretty face that was marred by dirt. There were tear tracks running down her cheeks mixing massacara with the dirt. In fact, tears were still falling from her blodshot blue eyes. My extra sensory hearing picked up that she was quietly praying and begging for Jane to let her go.

As I stared at the distraught and terrified girl, I waited for sympathy or regret to find me. Waited to feel some kind of pity or remorse for what I had to do. Waited for any of the emotions a normal human would've felt to find me, but I got nothing.

I was an animal and the girl before me was food. That was it, just food.

"Go ahead, m'dear." Aro said. At first, I thought he was talking to me, so I turned to look at him. He, however, was looking at Jane.

Before I could turn around, the girl let out a terrified and painfilled scream. The smell of wildflowers and strawberries hit me harder than ever. The scent filled my brain and all logical thought stopped. All that mattered was catching my pray.

Faster than I ever thought possible, I whipped around and yanked the girl from Jane's grasp. Her squeal of pain and fear as we both hit the ground did nothing for me. In fact, I yanked her hair a little harder to get better access to her neck-where I noticed Jane had made a small cut with her fingernail.

I licked the blood off the wound then sealed my mouth around it and bit down as hard as I could. The girl started screaming and writhing under my body, but I barely noticed as her wonderful blood began to fill my mouth.

I swallowed convulsively allowing her blood to quench the fire that was burning in my throat. I distantly remememebered Aro saying that I could stop anytime I wanted to, but, the thing was, I didn't want to. So I kept going. I was still drinking long after her screams stopped, even longer after her body went limp in my arms. I didn't stop until I had taken every lost drop of blood from her body.

And when I finished, I still felt nothing.

**EDWARD**

"No, no, no, no no!" I cried fighting to stay in my seat as Alice's half vision finished.

It was three days after we made the decision to go to Volterra and rescue Bella and we were on the last leg of our trip. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a direct flight from Washington to Italy. Apparently, some companies don't like to change their policies, no matter how much money you wave in front of them. The airline we had chosen just happened to be one of them. Sadly, it was the only airline that didn't require a two or three day drive. A flight with three layovers would've been a lot faster than that.

I didn't realize until that moment much those three layovers had cost Bella.

"Edward!" Esme reprimanded quietly. She glance behind her indicating the others passengers. I knew she was trying to tell me to keep it down. We didn't want the wrong person to over hear.

"You don't understand." I told her shaking my head. I did lower my voice, so only the family could hear me. "We're going to be too late."

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked turning around to look at me.

"By the time we get to Volterra, Aro's plan, whatever it is, is already going to be set in motion." Alice explained.

"How do you know?" Emmett questioned.

"Because of what I just saw." Alice told him. "Whoever Aro has shielding me is very good. Not only could I barely see anything, I can't tell you how soon it's going to happen. All I know is, it's like Edward said, we're going to be too late getting to Volterra."

"And what exctly do you see, love." Jasper asked. He didn't really want to know and neither did the others, I could tell by the tone in Jasper's voice and the looks on the faces of the others. I knew they would all listen, if only for Bella's sake.

"Bella is either about to or already has, made her first kill." Alice explained. I could hear the pain in her voice as the vision of Bella drinking that poor girl dry danced around in her head. "And it was a human kill."

"Oh my God." Carlisle sighed grabbing the bridge of his nose. Upon hearing Alice's words, Carlisle's mind went into worried father mode. He worried about the psychological effects this would have on her when we got her home to Forks.

Bella had always been kind and gentle. When she had wanted to become a vampire, he biggest fear was that she wasn't going to be able to control herself. She hated the idea that someone would die if she did. She never wanted to take another human life.

Everyone worried about what effect that would have on her. Everyone, except Alice and I, that is. We both knew the horrible truth of Alice's vision. A truth, that Alice apparently wasn't going to keep from them. She blamed herself for this whole mess because she had lied to us for sixteen years, she didn't want to make it worse by keeping more from us.

"That's not even the worst of it." she whispered. The tension level rose as everyone comtemplated what could be worse than Bella killing a human when that was the last thing she ever wanted to do, even as a vampire. "Whatever Aro has done to her, she enjoyed it and felt no remorse when she was done."

There were looks of shock on everyone's faces as they stared at Alice. There silence couldn't hide the loudness of their thoughts. None of them had been able to believe what Alice had said. They knew Bella well enough to know, that even if she had lost control, she would've at least felt regret and anger at herself for giving in to that instinct. Hell, she probably feel like she let all of us down and blame herself for it. She definitely wouldn't feel nothing, though.

"So what does that mean?" Rosalie asked quietly.

"It means that we have to bring her back." I said quietly. "We have to help her fight whatever the hell Aro did to her. We have to get our Bella back."

"I don't think it's going to be that easy son." Esme said gently.

"It has to be that easy, mom." I told her. "Because, I refuse to allow her to spend enternity like those monsters."

She sighed and I could hear the pitying thoughts behind her eyes. She placed her hand on my shoulder.

"And we'll do what we can to keep that from happening." She told me. "But if she doesn't want our help, then there's nothing we can do."

I knew on some level that she had been right but I refused to accept that my Bella would want to spend the rest of her life being like them. Besides, I swore to protect her from everything and I had spent the last sixteen years doing a piss poor job of it. I was going to do everything in my power to make up for that.

I would save her from those monsters if it was the last thing I did. I owed her that much after everything I put her through over the years.

**BELLA**

Once I finished draining the girl, I felt the burning had rescinded a great deal. It hadn't gone away, but it wasn't unbearable anymore. It wasn't the only thing that felt better, either. I felt better in general now that I had someone else's life force in my system. I felt more sure of myself and a lot less afraid.

I still couldn't remember much before the tansformation started, but it didn't bother me as much. I felt stronger, like no one could hurt me. All of my doubts and fears seemed to have disappeared after killing the girl.

I hand on my shoulder caused me to turn around and growl at the person who owned the hand. It turned out to be Aro and I was immediately ashamed of myself.

"Relax, m'dear." Aro said raising his hands in surrender. "I have no intention of trying to take your prey from you." he chuckled and tapped the girl's body with his foot. "Even if there was something in there left to take."

"I'm sorry." I said looking down. I felt the urge to blush my embarassment, but couldn't make my body perform the required action. "I don't know what came over me."

"It's quite alright, m'dear." he replied running his fingers throuh my hair as if I were some kind of pet. I wasn't sure how I felt about the gesture, but it seemed familiar, so I didn't pull away. "In the first few months after the transformation, whenever you're around human blood, your hunting instincts will take over and you will be unable to control yourself. You'll be very territorial of your prey. If someone tries to impede on your kill, you will get defense. It's only natural. I should've known better than to get to close, so soon after you've fed. I didn't give you a chance to come back to yourself. The fault is mine."

I just nodded as I contemplated his words. I didn't like the idea of being a slave to the blood, even if it was only a few months. The killing part of it, obviously, wouldn't be a problem for me. I just didn't like the idea of not being in control. It didn't help that there was something in the back of my mind telling me that vampires didn't have to be a slave to their instincts. They could overcome it.

"Will I ever learn to control it?" I asked in barely above a whisper.

"Of course, you will." Aro answered with a kind smile. "We'll help to control all your instincts. We'll teach you everything from sharing to hunting to making a clean kill."

He chuckled and leaned down over the body that was still on the floor in front of me. He inspected it closely, even running his fingers over the still red bite mark on her neck. He pulled his fingers away without getting blood on them.

"Although, I don't think the last one will be necessary." He said. "I think this is the cleanest kill that I have ever seen. There isn't a drop of blood left in her. There isn't even anything on you or her. Normally, the first kill is the messiest. The new ones can't seem to control it enough to not make a mess. I'm very proud of you Bella."

He was still kneeling beside me in front of the girl's body. When he finished his speech, he turned and kissed me on the top of my head. I was hit with a slightly disgusted feeling and had to fight not to flinch, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. I shrugged it off as an involuntary reaction from what that Edward asshole had done to me.

"Now," Aro said standing up. "I have some guests coming soon and I must prepare for them. Felix, could you please take Bella back to your room. I'm sure you have some catching up to do. You are both excused from our meeting this evening. I'm not sure Bella is ready to meet more new people today and I don't want her left alone. Just in case."

He smiled kindly at me, but I got the strongest feeling that I was missing something. Something that was very important, but I couldn't get a grip on exactly what it was.

"Thank you, Master." Felix replied with a bow. He held his hand out to me. "Come on love, let's get you settled in again." I took his hand, but was back to being a little unsure about it.

Aro's words about excusing Felix and I from the meeting with his guests had brought back all of my uncertainty. I knew I had no reason not to trust these people who had showed me nothing, but kindness and had saved my life after Edward had left me to die, but I couldn't get passed the idea that I was missing something. Something that involved the guests that he didn't want me to meet.

Still, I was scared of what would happen if I questioned what they had told me. I feared they'd get rid of me, if they thought I didn't believe them. If that happened, I'd have nowhere to go and no one to help me control this new part of me.

I let Felix help me up and followed him done the hall, praying that it was the right thing.

**EDWARD**

"So what's the plan?" I asked.

We had been off the plane for a couple of hours and were headed to Volterra in another stolen car. It was a mark on how tense the situation was when Alice didn't comment on how disappointing Emmett's choice of a four door Ford was from the porsche that she picked the last time she was here. I think she was too busy trying to get a better glimpse at what was happening to Bella to really care. Still, it was very unlike Alice to not notice style and quality.

Nobody answered me as we drove through the Italian country side at nearly 200 miles per hour. None of their thoughts had been helpful either. Nobody knew how we were going to handle the situation when we arrived in front of the Volturi. All anyone knew was that we weren't leaving until we had her back.

Alice was fighting hard to see the outcome of our trip, but there was too much riding on Aro's decision and what was happening to Bella that she couldn't see passed Aro's sheild. All she was getting was flashes of Bella laying in a bed with Felix sitting beside her stroking her hair. There was no audio, but I could tell they were talking and while Bella didn't look scared or hurt, there was something not right about her. Almost like she wasn't sure what was going on.

I growled as the image flashed through her mind again.

"If you can't see something useful, Alice," I said through gritted teeth, "Then stop trying to see the future."

"Edward!" Esme reprimanded from the front seat of the car. "Your sister is trying to be helpful. It's not her fault she can't see what she needs to see."

"But what she's seeing isn't helping." I answered trying to keep my anger under control.

Esme was right, Alice was only trying to help. She couldn't help that Aro's sheild was keeping her out. It was ust extemely frustrating to not understand what was going on. Why had Bella drained another human with absolutely no emotion whatsoever? Why was she now laying in Felix's bed talking to him as if he was a good friend or lover? And why did she look so unsure of what was happening?

"In fact, it is only making things worse." I continued in a much calmer voice. She is seeing the same thing over and over. I don't need to see the image of her laying in Felix's bed and acting like he isn't one of the men who has most likelt been raping her for the two or three weeks. I need to know why she's doing it. If Alice can't see why, then she just need to stop trying to see anything. My sanity can't take anymore."

"Well, son," Carlisle replied before Esme or Alice could argue back. He had to look at me in the rearview mirror because, as our driver, he couldn't take his eyes off the road. "I think it's time that you prepared your sanity for the worst."

"Why?" I answered. "By the end of the night she'll be back with us and everything will be alright?"

"Maybe, but most likely not." he replied, shaking his head. Images of us leaving the castle without Bella were running through, not just his mind, but the minds of the rest of my family. They were all considering the different possibilities.

Esme was thinking about Bella laying crumpled on the floor in front of us, unable to get up. We were trying to get to her, but Aro wouldn't let us near her. Rosalie, so much more sympathetic to what Bella was possibly going through, thought about what Bella went through and how she'd be too scared to leave after all of that. The others were having similiar thoughts. Most were of Bella being forced to stay by pain or fear, but Carlisle, who was the most practical of all of us, thought of Bella simply choosing to stay with the Volturi over us.

"No." I growled. "I refuse to believe that she would choose them over us. Not when she has a chance to get her family back. Not when she coul be with her daughter and be happy again."

"First of all, it is very unlikely that Aro will give her a choice." Carlisle said. "We all know that he is well within his rights to do whatever he did to her. So if he doesn't want to give her back, then there is nothing we can do about it."

"How can you even say that, Carlisle." I asked unable to believe he felt that way. "She's your daughter! And you're just going to leave her to the monsters if the choose not to give her back! Do you really think that se deserves this?"

"Of course, I don't Edward." he argued. "But we broke the law and Bella messed up our only chance to make it right. She knew the chance she was taking when she walked away. We can't walk in there making demands when it was us and Bella that screwed up."

"Bull-fucking-shit!" I growled.

"Edward!" Esme reprimanded again.

"No, Esme, that's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard." I answered trying not to yell at her. She wasn't the one I was angry at. She wasn't the one saying Bella deserved what had happened to her. "Regardless of what happened, Bella doesn't deserve to spend the rest of her life with those monsters. Hell, nobody deserves that."

"You're right, but this isn't some amatuer group of nomadic vampires or an untrained and undiscplined group of newborns. We can't just go in there and fight them because they hurt or threatened to hurt Bella. This is the Volturi, the ruling group of vampires. What they say and do is law. We can't fight that." Carlisle explained as he tried to keep himself in control of his own emotions.

I could hear how much saying this was hurting him. He really did think of Bella as his daughter and hated the idea of leaving her with the Volturi for the rest of her life. Yet, he didn't know what else to do if he couldn't talk Bella out of this.

"We can fight them." I growled again.

"Edward, be reasonable." Jasper said quietly. "I fought in wars against some of the strongest, scariest, and most sadistic vampires in the world and I wouldn't want to go anywhere near the Volturi for a fight. They'd destroy us."

"It'd be worth it for Bella." I argued.

"Maybe so, but it wouldn't do her any good if we all got killed." Jasper responded trying to spread calm around the car. We were all to tense for such an enclosed and uncomfortable proximity.

I knew he was right. If we fought and lost, it would be in vain because Bella would still be in their hands. She would still grow to be the monstorous vampire that she had feared becoming. Who knows who she would end up hurting or killing in an attempt to please her masters. Still, I couldn't just walk away from her because the Volturi wouldn't give her back to us.

"So what do you suggest we do?" I asked.

Before anyone could answer, Alice screamed and we were both sucked into another painful half vision.

_The three of us were standing before Aro, Caius and Marcus in a large stone room. Jane, Alec, and Demitri were standing around us. There were others, but it was too blurry around the edges for me to see who they all were. I did notice that Felix wasn't there. _

_"I'm afraid Bella does not wish to see you right now." Aro answered with a smirk. _

_"I think it would be more appropriate to say it wouldn't be safe to allow Bella to see you right now." Caius sneered. _

I didn't get to see anymore, because someone literally forced Alice out of the vision. I had never seen that happen before, but I felt someone literally give her a mental shove and we were both back in the car. Alice was leaning against her seat, holding her head, and trying to catch her breath. Jasper was fretting over her asking if she was alright.

"What the hell did Caius mean, it wouldn't be safe for them to allow Bella to see us?" I asked unable to make sense of what I just saw.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Alice answered. She closed her eyes and started concentrating on Bella's future again. She concentrated hard for the next fiv minutes, but all she got was static in her head. Whoever had shoved her out before was trying extra hard to keep her out now.

"Damn it!" she finally yelled slamming her hands on the back of Esme's seat. "Stupid frickin' shielding vampire bitch!" she added crossing her arms like a five-year old.

It was classic angry Alice attitude and it would've been cute if it hadn't been for the seriousness of the situation. I would've even laughed if it hadn't been Bella's future hanging on her ability to see passed the 'stupid frickin' shielding vampire bitch."

Emmett, who couldn't resist the hilarity in any situation, said,

"How do you know the vampire's a bitch? He could be the son of a bitch." He then chuckled and I glared at him.

"Oh come on, Edward," Rosalie said with a smile, "It was a little funny."

"Bella's future is hanging in the balance. Nothing is funny about that." I nearly snarled.

"Guys, stop it." Jasper said. I felt him sending out calm and neutral feelings. I accepted them because I didn't want a family fight to delay us getting to Bella. "Edward, you know humor is Emmett's defense mechanism. Relax, he didn't mean anything by it."

"You're right, Jazz." I said taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Em. I'm just..."

"Worried." Emmett finished. "I understand. We all are and it's okay. We'll figure it out, eventually."

The only questions was: Would eventually be soon enough to bring our Bella back?

**ALICE **

Even with my failed attempts at seeing Bella's future through Aro's little shield, I kept trying. I knew I would never be able to garuntee what would happen when we got to Volterra, but I hated going into something this blind. It gave our enemy too much of an upper hand. The Volturi already had home court advantage, couldn't they have given us a little idea of what to expect. It would only be fair, right? Then again, it was the Volturi and they didn't play fair. If they had, Bella would've never gone to Volterra willingly and she wouldn't be a vampire with a human kill.

Unfortunately, the shield that Aro had found was a million times more powerful than I was. I couldn't even use my bond with Bella to get through it this time. It was what dragged me into every vision since the beginning. Why wasn't it working now? Had Aro found some way to block that to? Or had they found some way to break it completely? That last thought scared the shit out of me.

"Relax, Al." Jasper whispered massaging my shoulders. He didn't try to use his gift on me and I appreciated that. Since the car was so small, I had to sit on his lap, so I leaned back into his chest and buried my face into his shoulder. "If you keep trying to force yourself, your going to exhaust yourself, then you won't be any good to Bella." He kissed the top of my head and I nodded into his shoulder.

I stopped trying to see Bella's future after that. He was right, I couldn't get a good picture of what was going to happen, and I didn't want wear myself out before we went to see the Volturi.

I had been sitting with my face buried in Jasper's shoulder for a few minutes when my phone started blaring "Who Let the Dogs Out" by Baha Men. I pulled my phone out of my pocket wondering what Jaocb would be calling me for. He usually talked to Carlisle, not me.

"What's up, Jacob?" I asked sounding as confused as I felt.

"Nothing much." Jacob said in a conversational tone. "I was just wondering if there was something or some_one_ you forgot to tell me about during your sixteen years of secret chats with Bella." His tone went from conversational to angry by the time we finished.

Shit! This was so not the time to have that conversation.

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? I liked it a lot. You tell me what you think. Also, I'm still offering a special preview for anyone who can tell me what the theme of my chapter names is. Hope you all enjoyed it! I know I really enjoyed writing this one. **


	17. One Step Closer

**A/N: Sorry this update took so long. I've been bouncing between a few of my own original projects and this one kind of got thrown on the back burner. Anyway, I only have one quick note, a special congratulations to LilObessesed! (S)He guessed that my chapter titles have been song lyrics/titles. She got her very special preview which made me very excited for later. Anyway, back to the story.**

**JACOB **

I took Sam's advice and, three days later, I felt better about everything. When I was first faced with the decision on what I should tell Rosemarie, if I should tell her anything at all, it had been a little too much to handle after finding out I had a daughter and Bells hadn't said a word to me about that in sixteen years. I was too shocked, surprised, and angry to make any kind of important decision.

Three days later, I had cleared my head and understood everything that everyone had been trying to tell me. Rosemarie had a right to her answers and I was finally ready to give them to her. The only question; how was I gonna spill the beans?

I had to figure out how to tell her without making the situation worse. I worried she would either think that I was insane or, even worse, think I was making stuff up to cover up the real story. Both scenarios ended with her not wanting anything to do with me anymore. I didn't want that. It would've been so much easier if I had known the kind of person that she was. If she was the kind of person that would be open and receptive to the idea of vampires and werewolves then everything would be fine. But if she was the kind that wouldn't hear a word of anything that shook her precious reality, then we would have problems.

I wanted to believe she was one of those people who were open and receptive to the idea-being Bella's daughter and all-but I couldn't be sure. If I had been able to get to know her better before I was faced with having this conversation, things would've been a lot easier.

Sam and I had been discussing it for th better part of the last three days and we hadn't come up with a good or easy way to do it. All we knew for sure was that Seth and Leah would be with us when we did it. Sam seemed convinced that it would lessen the impact of everything and make it all easier to swallow. He thought they would be less afraid knowing their imprints were monsters as well. I had no experience with imprinting, so I had to take his word for it.

It was Sam who finally suggested calling the Cullens and asking them for some help. They were a part of this too, after all. It made sense to include them, even if we hadn't thought of it right away. They were as much a part of Bella's past and Rosemarie's future as the pack was. Besides, Carlisle always seemed to know the right thing to say in any situation and Jasper would be able to gauge and help control the emotional atmosphere throughout the entire conversation.

I had hoped we wouldn't have to call them. Rosemarie hadn't transformed,yet, which meant there was a small chance that she wouldn't change at all. But if we brought her face-to-face with seven vampires, there would be no stopping it. I wanted to give her a chance to stay a normal teenager for as long as possible.

It took a little over twenty-four hours after Sam suggested the we call the Cullens for back for my to realize it was the best plan we had. I didn't like it, but I knew that it had to be done. That's how I found myself, against my better judgement, dialing Alice's number.

I had everyone of the Cullens' numbers in my phone and could've called any of them. Alice, however, was the one that I wanted to talk. It had occured to me early on that she had probably known about Rosemarie all along. It pissed me off that, even after everything that happened, she didn't tell me about her.

I decided to that I'd vent just a little before I got to the point. When Alice answered with a very confused and stressed out, "What's up, Jacob?," I responded with,

"Nothing much. I was just wondering if there was something or some_one _that you forgot to tell me about during your sixteen years of secret chats with Bella." I tried not sound too angry, but it didn't work as well as I hoped it would.

My statement was followed by a long silence. It was one of those you got when you were so shocked and surprised that you didn't know what else to say. I patted myself on the back, because I was sure it had been the first time that I had rendered her speechless.

I held the phone to my ear and stayed silent. I wanted to give her a chance to process the information before I pressed on with the conversation. The silence had lasted so long, though, I worried that she had hung up on me or something.

"Alice, are you there?" I finally asked.

"Yeah, I'm here." she sighed. The single sigh contained so much stress that I wondered for a minute what she was doing. "Just thinking this isn't the best time to be having this conversation."

I let out a humorless laugh. I wonder if she realized that life usually sent big surprises like this at the worst possible time. It definitely didn't change the fact that Rosemarie was here and wanting answer.

"Considering my sixteen year-old daughter, that I knew nothing about, is here in Forks and asking questions that I'm not sure I can answer, I'd say now is the perfect time to have this conversation." I replied unable to keep a small touch of anger out of my voice.

There was another shocked silence. Alice speechless, twice in the last five minutes, I think that was some kind of a record or something. I wondered what she was thinking. Surely she knew enough about Rosemarie, to know she'd be asking questions after her mother's mysterious death. She was the one that had known about the girl all along.

The silence stretched on so long that I almost had to ask if she was still there again, but just as I opened my mouth, she asked,

"Rosemarie's in Forks?" She sounded extremely confused.

"Yes." I told her. "She came to visit me three days ago and we fought because I refused to answer her questions. She's not very happy with me right now."

There was a sigh followed by another silence. I didn't know what she was thinking this time, but I had a feeling this one had nothing to do with shock. It seemed like she was just as confused as I was about everything. I just didn't understand why. If Bella had told her about Rosemarie, surely she would told Alice that she be sending Rosemarie to Forks if anything happened to her.

"I'm sorry you had to find out like that Jacob." she finally told me. "I didn't think she knew enough about Forks to come here asking question or I would've told you right away."

I was surprised to find her words didn't anger me too much. Yes, I felt that she should've told me I had a daughter the second Bella told her, but I could sort of understand why she hadn't. I wasn't even sure how I would've taken the news back then. Bella's leaving really messed me up. I wasn't sure I would've been able to handle the idea that I had a daughter Bella didn't want me to know about. I supposed it didn't matter too much, though. That was all in the past and we needed to focus on the present and future right now.

"You should've told me anyway." I said hoping my voice reflected that I wasn't too angry with her. "That's not important right now, though. The important thing is that she is here and asking questions. Bella left her a letter pretty much telling Rosemarie the she had been murdered. There was enough information in it to get her to Forks and me. Bella seems to have left what happens next up to me."

I didn't add in the fact that I had no idea what should happen next. I knew that Rosemarie needed to know the truth. I knew she had a right to it and everything, but I didn't know how to give it to her.

"Are you going to tell her the truth?" Alice asked after a mintue.

"I wasn't at first." I answered unable to keep the sadness out of my voice. "I didn't want her life destroyed anymore than it already is. Sam convinced me it was wrong to try to keep her in the dark after everything that had happened, though and, I've decided to tell her all of it."

I left out the part where Seth had imprinted on her. It wasn't my place. Seth could tell them if he chose to. For now, all they needed to know was that I intended to tell her the truth.

"That's good." she said, but I could hear some uncertainty in her voice. "Just be careful, okay? The Volturi might have spies on her waiting for her to show any sign that she knows too much."

Sam and I had already figured that would be the case. We had already taken necessary orecautions to be sure that Rosemarie and her friend were protected. We weren't going to them the chance of dong to Rosemarie what they did to Bella.

"Don't worry, we have it covered. Sam has added the Swan house as one of our patrol points. Two of our men are circling it as we speak. They won't get near her." I explained to Alice.

"Good." she responded, but there was still uncertainty there, but I didn't know what else to say that would make her feel better.

We fell silent after that. This one sounded like she was waiting for me to continue the conversation, but I wasn't sure how to ask what I needed to ask.

"I may not be able to see your future, Jacob, but my psychic sense does still work on you." she finally said. "If you have a question, just ask."

"Well, Sam and I were wondering if you and your family would come with us when we told Rosemarie. We think it might be easier for her to believe if the truth was staring her in the face. And we figure, having Jasper and Carlisle there to help keep everything wouldn't hurt either. Rosemarie is as spirited and stubborn as her mother."

There was another long silence and I wondered what this one was about. It wasn't like it was a difficult question or anything. I mean all she had to say was yes or no. There really wasn't anything that needed to be thought about.

"Um...Edward wants to talk to you?" she finally said, which caught me completely off guard.

"Okay." I replied not trying to hide my confusion.

What the hell was I missing?

**EDWARD**

The car had gone silent the second Jacob rvealed that he had met his daughter. None of us were expecting to hear him say that. From what Alice had told us, Bella hadn't told Rosemarie anything about Forks or any of us. In fact, Bella had made Rosemarie believe that Jacob had abandoned them. So none of us could understand how she ended up there looking for Jacob or how she managed to find him.

As we listened to Alice's conversation with him, it all slowly started to make sense. And it proved that Alice had been right. Bella knew that the Volturi were going to come for her when they did, which meant they must have threatened Rosemarie to get Bella to go with them willing.

Bella hadn't wanted to leave Rosemarie with nothing, so she told the girl just enough to help her find her father. Then it would all be up to Jacob how much she found out. It seemed a little unfair to Jacob, but it was the only thing Bella could do and still protect her daughter. I hope he understood that.

As Alice and Jacob talked we had mad our way into Volterra and were now sitting idle along a curb. We were a few blocks away from the drain that would take us to the Volturi, but we didn't want to attract too much attention to ourselves by parking right by it. We would walk the rest of the way. The was already starting to sink in the sky, so it woudn't be much of an issue.

Alice continued to talk to Jacob as we sat there. I wished they'd hurry it up. I knew and understood that Jacob had just found out about his daughter and needed advice on how to handle it, but we really needed to get inside to see the Volturi and discuss Bella's freedom, or at least, find out what was happening to her.

They had been fallen into a long awkward silence. I was about to tell Alice to just hang up and we'd deal with Jacob later when she said,

"I may not be able to see your future, Jacob, but my psychic sense does still work on you. If you have a question, just ask."

"Well, Sam and I were wondering if you and your family would come with us when we told Rosemarie. We think it might be easier for her to believe if the truth was staring her in the face. And we figure, having Jasper and Carlisle there to help keep everything wouldn't hurt either. Rosemarie is as spirited and stubborn as her mother."

His request was a surprised us just a little. My family and the pack had become good friends since Bella came into our lives, but we didn't often ask each other for help. Despite everything, there were some things that they didn't trust us with, which was understandable considering we were their mortal enemies. Jacob's daughter had seemed like it would be one of those things.

Under any other circumstances, the answer would have been yes, but, considering we were in Volterra trying to help Bella, there was nothing we could do. Alice looked at me trying to figure out what she should say to him or if she should even tell him where we were.

I sighed and held my hand out to the phone. Jacob had a right to know what was happening, but I wanted to be the one to tell him. I knew losing her hand tore him up as badly as it tore me up, so it only seemed right that I be the one to give him hope that she'd be coming back. No matter how false that hope might be.

"Um...Edward wants to talk to you?" she told him and handed me the phone.

"Jacob." I said by way of greeting.

"Edward, what's going on?" He asked and I could hear the slightest bit of desperation in his voice. "I feel like I'm missing something."

"You're missing a lot actually." I told him calmly. "And I'm going to explain everything in a moment. First, I wanted to say that I'm sorry you had to find out about your daughter that way. But, for the sake of our friendship and the treaty, I want you to know that Alice didn't even tell us about her until three days ago."

"That does make me feel a bit better." He responded. "I would've been pissed if all of you had known."

"Believe me, if she had told us years ago, I would've made sure you found out to. Regardless, of what the others wanted. Rosemarie's your daughter and you had every right to know she was there and be a part of her life."

"I actually believe that." he said sounding extremely surprised. "Just like I believe you'll be completely honest with me when you tell me what's going on."

Those were the two things I loved most about Jacob. He never allowed himself to be distracted and he was always very straight forward. I didn't want to waste too much more time on idle conversation. We needed to get in to see the Volturi before things with Bella got worse.

"My family and I are in Italy right now." I told him not bothering to sugar coat it. "We are about to see the Volturi and try to negotiate Bella's freedom."

"So she _is _still alive?" he asked.

"In a manner of speaking." I said, not sure if he was ready to hear that the woman he loved was a vampire. There was silence on the other side of the line as he brain worked out the meaning of my words.

"Why?" he asked. His tone now had a sad and angry edge to it. I had a feeling if we were standing he had been with us, there'd be nothing left of the Volturi.

"That's what we were gonna find out." I told him.

"Then go." Jacob replied. "Find out whatever you can, because if you they won't give her back, we'll fight for her."

"Okay." I responded. I didn't tell him how stupid it would be for him to lead the wolf pack into that fight. Or that the Volturi would slaughter everyone of them before they could even get close to Bella. Jacob needed some hope of getting Bella back and I wasn't going to take that away from him. "We'll do what we can, but I won't make any promises."

"I know." He answered. "But what should I tell Rosemarie?"

"The truth about everything, except her mother." I told him. "You don't want to give her those kinds of nightmares or any false hope. She still might never see her mother again. It's better to let her keep thinking Bella's dead for now."

"You need to go now, don't you?" he said after taking a minute to process what I just told him.

"Yes, we need to get inside before it gets too dark. They may already know we're coming and we really don't need any surprises."

"Alright then. Good luck."

"Thank you. And good luck with Rosemarie."

I sighed and flipped the phone shut before either of us could say anything else. We really needed to get inside. With Alice's vision not working, I honestly didn't trust the Volturi not to try anything.

"Are we ready to do this?" I asked my family.

"Nope." Alice replied, "But let's do it anyway."

**JACOB**

The line went dead and I flipped the phone shut with a sigh. My mind was reeling with everything that I had just found out. Bella wasn't dead, but she was a vampire. I was surprised to find that didn't bother me. I used to think that she was better off dead than being a vampire. Now, after spending a week thinking she was dead, but finding out she was a vampire, I realized how wrong I was. When it came to Bella, anything was better than dead.

T  
I didn't completely understand why the Volturi would turn her, but I didn't care. In the end, Bella was alive and that's all that mattered to me. I could only hope we had a chance of getting her back.

I laid the phone on the table and turned my attention to Leah, Seth, and Sam. They had heard everything amd I could see every bit of confusion and relief that I felt in each of their faces. Nobody say anything for a long time.

"So, what do you want to do?" Sam finally asked. He had used the same slow and calm tone that he used the night he had to coax the gun out of my hand. The one that was meant to calm a frightened animal. He only ever used it when he was worried about my sanity.

"First, you don't have to use that tone, Sam." I told him. "Regardless of what happens with Bella, I'm not ever going back to that. I'm the only parent Rosemarie has left. She needs me and I need her. We need this chance to get to know each other and become the family that I've always wanted. I'm not going to take that away from us, because of Bella."

"I understand, Jacob." Sam replied using the same tone. "But what you have to understand is seeing someone you love and care about trying to take their own life isn't something that goes away. I'm always gonna have that image of you standing in this kitchen with a hand gun pointed at your head. And I'm always gonna be afraid that you'll something will send you back there and there will be no one to stop you for pulling the trigger this time."

I didn't argue with that, because he was right. I'd probably never understand how he felt that night, even after seeing replaying over and over in his head when we were wolves. Just like he'd probably never understand how I got there in the first place. Hell, I didn't even understand it myself. Either way, it was just a onversation we didn't need to have.

I sighed and answered his first question,

"In answer to your question, I think we should wait for the Cullens to return before we tell Rosemarie anything. They are as much a part of this as we are. They deserves to be here for that conversation."

"I agree." Sam answered. "However, it's been three days and none of us has spoken to Rosemarie at all. If we keep giving her the silent treatment, she might get the wrong idea and leave. We don't want her to do that."

"No, we don't." I replied.

"Seth and I could go talk to them." Leah suggested enthusiastically.

I turned my attention to her. She had a bright smile on her face. It was the first true smile I had seen on her face in nearly two decades. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were sparkling with a life that hadn't been there since Sam broke her heart. I honestly couldn't say no to that, even if I had wanted to.

I looked back to Sam to see what he had to say. He shrugged letting me know that it was up to me.

"Okay, you and Seth can be the ones to go." I said with a sigh. I didn't think it was possible, but Leah's smile had gotten a little bit bigger. "However, the imprint is going to complcate things a bit. If they ask the right questions you may feel obligated to answer them. Please, make sure you just tell them what we've decided and what we are waiting for. Nothing more. Understood?"

"Understood." They both said at the same time.

"Good." I said. "Go take care of your imprintees. Sam and I will stay here and wait for any word on what's happening with Bella."

They both nodded and walked out the door. I sighed and clenched my phone in my hand. How had my life gotten so complicated.

**ROSEMARIE**

It had been three days since my disappointing visit with my father. Three days since Rachel told us just to give Jacob a few days to let things sink in.

Unfortunately, nothing had happened in those three days. Jacob hadn't tried to contact us, nor had anyone else we met that day. The stress of everything was starting to get to me a lot. I hadn't expected to come to Forks and get more questions than I did answers. I didn't even think my father would refuse to give me the answers that I was looking for. Now that he had, I was beginning to think my trip to Forks had been a waste of time. I was beginning to consider giving up.

To be honest, though, I hadn't been feeling well enough to seriously consider anything. I had slept through most of the last three days and when I was awake, I felt like shit. I had a constant headache that didn't want to go away, no matter how many drugs I took. I was constantly disoriented and dizzy. And I was snapping and yelling at Erick a lot. I had always had a bit of a temper. Something that I assumed I had gotten from my father, but I had enough of my mother's calm to even it out. I was always able to find a happy medium, but in the last three days, that didn't exist.

I figured it was just the stress of everything bringing out the worst in me. That's why I was sleeping so much, I thought if I could relax my mind in body, I'd feel better. That didn't seem to be working, though.

"Maybe you should go see a doctor?" Erick suggested while we were having lunch in the living room. I had just woken up from a four hour nap. My constant headache had become a nearly unbearable migraine and I was a little warmer than should be considered healthy.

His suggestion brought my temper flaring again. He knew I hated doctors and hospitals and would only go if I thought there was something seriously wrong. I didn't think that was the case this time. I just needed a few days to relax and to process everything and get over my father's ridiculous attitude.

"Why, they'll just tell me that I need to relax and I'll feel better." I said trying very hard to control that anger. I knew he was only concerned and trying to help. "Why would I want to spend my limited four thousand dollars a month on a doctor's visit when I know it's just stress?"

"What if it's not?" he said toss the crust of his leftover pizza onto his plate. Any other day, I would have picked it up and ate it myself, it was my favorite part, but today, I ddin't feel much like it. "What if it's something worse?"

"It's not." I replied and pushed my half eaten sandwich away from me. I crossed my arms over my chest ready to defend my point, even if I did feel like shit. "This has been a long month with a lot of surprises Erick. You have to expect that it would have some effect on my health."

"I know, but don't you think that's all the more reason to make sure there isn't something seriously wrong?" He pushed ignoring the fact that I was angry with him.

"I know my body, Erick." she stated. "And I know, whatever this is, no doctor came make better."

To be honest, I knew there was something seriously wrong with me, but I had a feeling there wouldn't be anything a doctor could about it. The last three days, I have just felt so wrong and it was in a more than sick kind of way. I didn't tell Erick this, because he would've insisted that I go see a doctor then, but I felt like there was something happening inside me. It felt like my insides were changing and there was something inside that wanted to bust out. It wasn't ready, yet, but it was getting close. I had no idea what was happening, but I worried it was bad.

I didn't tell Erick this because I didn't want him to worry about me. I also didn't want to have t go through a doctor's visit just to hear that they had no idea what was wrong with me. Or worse, it was something they wanted to study. So I stuck to my stress argument.

"That maybe true, but whatever is wrong, isn't normal, Rosie." he raised his hand to stroke my cheek, but pulled it away almost immediately. "You're burning up and I'm taking you to the hospital."

I saved the trouble of trying to fight and argue by the ringing of the doorbell. I stood up and the world spun. I managed not fall or stumble, though, so Erick wouldn't freak out anymore.

"I'm fine and I'm going to prove it, by answering the door." I walked to the door. I was a little slower than normal, because this dizzy spell didn't want to end. I managed to stay steady the whole time for Erick's benefit.

I pulled the door open and found myself face-to-face with Leah and Seth Clearwater. Seeing Seth had made me feel better emotionally and I wanted to fling myself into his arms, but I didn't want to risk falling over or him discovering that I was sick.

"Seth, Leah," I said with a genuine smile on my face. I hoped my tone told Seth that this was a very pleasant surprise for me. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Jacob asked us to come and talk to you and your friend." Seth said sounding just as happy about seeing me as I was about seeing him.

If I hadn't been concentrating on keeping myself upright, I would've been angry about the fact that Jacob sent messengers rather than coming himself. Of course, his choice of messengers didn't help me hold on to the anger much either.

"Well, then, why don't you come in and we can talk." I said gesturing to the living room.

"It would be our pleasure." Seth replied with a bow that I couldn't help but laugh at.

I set back so they could walk through. The two headed into the living room as I shut the door behind me. I leaned against it and took a few deep breaths. I would not fall or faint, not in front of Seth. I would not embarrass myself like that.

"Are you alright?" Seth asked looking back at me leaning against the door.

"Fine." I replied taking a step away from the door. "Just a little..."

Before I could finish my statement, I stumbled and fell into Seth's arms and everything went black.

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? Sorry, it is a little tedious, but it was just supposed to be a little filler chapter. Ten points to anyone who can figure out what's happening to Rosemarie. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. **


	18. Watch Me Burn

**Seth **

The second she answered the door, I knew there was something wrong with Rosemarie. She was covered in a thick layer of sweat and looking extremely pale. Her hair had been pulled back into a messy bun, but there were bits of it falling out and sticking to her face. There were dark circles under her eyes that were telling me she hadn't gotten much sleep. Her pretty brown eyes were bloodshot and she seemed to have been fightingn the urge to cry. And even as she stood there holding the door for my sister and I, she looked very weak. Almost as if, just standing there was taking every ounce of strength that she possessed. Even through all that, a smile spread across her face and her eyes brightened when she saw that it was me at the door.

She invited us in never losing that smile. We stepped in and walked toward the living room. I had a moment of shock as we stepped inside. We hadn't been the Swan's old house in years. We drove and ran by several times a day, but no body had wanted to go in side since the day Bella left. It would've been too hard for any of us who had known Bella and been friends with her. Memories and all.

We were most of the way into the living room when I realized that Rosemarie wasn't following us. I had heard the door close, but there were no footsteps telling me that she was following us into the living room. I did hear deep, careful breathing, though. Worried something was wrong, I turned around to see what was holding her up. She was leaning against the door trying to get her breathing under control. She looked like she was trying very hard to keep herself standing and not faint.

"Are you alright?" I asked. I wanted to go to her and check her out myself, but I wasn't sure if she'd be okay with that. I knew most women didn't like their men to be around when they were sick. They found it embarrassing. It looked like she was already pretty sick. I didn't want to make it worse.

"Fine." she answered as she took a careful step away from the door. "Just a little..."

She never got the chance to finish her statement. She stumbled on the second step and fell toward me. It was only my superior wolf reflexes that kept her from hitting the floor. They helped me to catch her, even though I was more than ten feet from her when she fell.

I noticed two things as I lowered her limp body to the floor. One her body felt as warm as any other member of the packs, too warm for a human to be healthy. So warm in fact, she had sweated through the thin camisole that she had been wearing. The second was the smell of wolf the clung to her and hung in the air around her.

I looked over to Leah in confusion. She had already greeted Erick and was sitting on the couch beside them. The imprint had them making googly eyes at each other and neither had noticed what was going on with Rosemarie and I.

I opened my mouth to make tell them to knock off the romantic crap and notice there was something wrong on the other side of the room, but I never got the words out. Rosemarie, who had been unconcious since she fell into my arms was now convulsing on the floor and moaning in pain.

The smell of werewolf was growing stronger by the second. My mind, though frantic and worried, had already understood what was going on. Rosemarie was about to make her first transformation. Or at least, that's what it looked like. The process was as different for every member of the pack as we were to each other. Some had an easier time of it, because they just accepted it. Others fought it. It was harder and more painful for someone who fought it. Not to mention extremely dangerous.

I had seen a couple of my brothers almost die because they had been unwilling to accept what they were a let the beast come up. I didn't want to let that happen to Rosemarie, but I didn't know how to help. Sam and Jacob had always been the ones to talk them through it.

"Oh my God." I heard Leah breathe as I stared at Rosemarie's painfilled face. She continued to convulse and moan as I held her. I supposed Leah and Erick had finally noticed what was wrong, because Leah's voice had come from directly above me. "What's wrong with..." She broke off as she caught a whiff of the smell that was now surrounding Rosemarie and I.

"Leah, call Sam and Jacob." I said slowly. "Tell them what's happening and that she's fighting it, hard. Get both of them over here now."

In less dire circumstances, Leah would've complained about me ordering her around. She would've reminded me that she was the older sibling and I couldn't tell her what to do. This time she just took out her cell phone with shaking hands and did what I asked of her. I was grateful that she didn't try to argue with me. I wasn't sure how much time we had.

"We need to get her to a hospital." Erick said nearly beside me and brushing a few strands of sweat matted hair from her face. I resisted the urge to growl at him as he did this. The imprint was making it hard for me to deal with the fact that her best friend was a male.

I shook my head never taking my eyes off Rosemarie. She was still convulsing, but there were tears in her eyes now. And she was begging someone to make it stop.

"Just give into sweetie." I whispered as I brushed my hand across her forehead. "It'll all go away if you just let it happen."

"What are you talking about?" Erick asked caught somewhere between confusion and exasperation.

I shook my head again. I wasn't sure how to explain this to antoher human who knew nothing of the supernatural world. I knew he would eventually find out from Leah. The imprint would gauruntee that, but I couldn't explain it to him at th moment. My thoughts were too jumbled to even begin to find the right to tell him about this. Besides, taking care of Rosemarie had to be the priority.

"It's too much to explain." I told him as Rosemarie gave a particularly violent shudder and screamed. I flinched, but continued talking to Eirck. "Can you help me move her to the couch? I want to make her as comfortable as possible."

Normally, I would've been able to do it by myself, but with the way she was convulsing now, I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it to the couch without dropping her. Of course, I wasn't even sure making her comfortable would do any good, but it was the only thing I could think of to try until Sam and Jacob got here.

As if reading my mind, Leah came back into the room snapping her phone shut.

"Jacob and Sam are on there way." she stated. "They say the only thing we can do is make her comfortable and try to talk her through it until they get here."

"What are you talking about?" Erick asked looking between the two of us. There were tears of anger, fear, and confusion in his eyes. "She's sick. She needs to go to the hospital. Talking to her isn't going to do any good until a doctor can tell us what's wrong with her."

He speech was punctuated by another scream from Rosemarie. This scream was followed by more begging for it stop. Tears were no flowing freely down her cheeks. It was hard to say if she was unconcious or not. I hoped she was, because I couldn't imagine how much worse this would be if she was concious for it all.

Leah sighed and put her hand on Erick's shoulder.

"We already know what's wrong with her Erick and no doctor or hospital is going to be able to save help her." she told him calmly. She was trying to keep him as calm as possible, because if he got upset, we could be looking at bigger promblems than we already had. "We've just called the only two people who can help her right now. They're on their way. I promise, they will take care of her and make sure she comes through this okay."

Her words seemed to calm him a little. I could tell that he was still upset ad confused about what was happening, but I could see that he trusted Leah. If she said it was going to be okay, then it was going to be okay. I supposed it was another effect of the imprint. One that I was very grateful for at the moment.

"Okay, but what exactly are they going to try to get her through?" Erick asked. I could hear his attempt to be calm about this, but his voice shook just a little. He was truly her protective big brother, even if it wasn't offiicial.

"Leah, why don't you take him for a walk and fill him in." I said. He needed to get away from the situation or seeing Rosemarie like this or it was going to make him crazy. Besides, I wasn't sure how stable she would be when she came out of this. I didn't want him to be here, in case Rosemarie did something she was going to regret. "I'll take care of her until Jacob and Sam get here then call you when it's over."

Leah, once again, didn't argue as she normally would have. She simply nodded and grabbed Erick by the arm. She tried simply pulling him toward the door, but he wasn't budging. That was an impressive feet in itself. The werewolf gene had to have made her at least two times stronger than him, but he wasn't going to leave Rosemarie's side.

"Come on, Erick." she said tugging little harder. "We really do need to talk about this."

"No." Erick replied shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not going anywhere until I know that Rose is alright."

I had expected this, but hoped the imprint would've helped coax him out of the house. I was banking on him being willing to follow Leah to the ends of the earth no matter what the circumstances. I suppose some bonds weren't that easy to break.

Leah sighed and stepped in front of him. She grabbed his chin to make sure she was looking at him and not at Rosemarie.

"Listen to me, Erick." she said. "I promise that she is going to be fine, but there is nothing that you can do for her right now. The ones who can will be here in a few minutes. Staying here and making youself crazy watching her go through this isn't going to help anything. You need to come with me and I will explain it all. I promise, by th time we finish our talk, you'll understand everything. But you really need to come with me. Please."

If I hadn't been so worried about Rosemarie, I would've been shocked by her little speech. It wasn't like Leah to be so compassionate or even that patient. If you didn't do what Leah wanted when Leah wanted it, she usually got very upset and started yelling. Yet, she was talking to Erick as if he were a young and scared child. She was calm and seemed liked she generally cared about how he was feeling. Moreover, it seemed like she cared about Rosemarie's well being as well. It was very seldom one got the impression that Leah cared. It was very shocking.

Of course, Rosemarie's current state stopped me from full appraciating this new side of my sister. Although, I did hope that her imprint with Erick would bring it out more and more as time went on.

Erick managed to pull his chin from Leah's grip and went back to staring at her as though afraid for her life. He had every right to be. If she didn't let the transformation happen, and soon, the beast would rip her up from the inside out. I've never seen someone die from a refusal to let transform, but a few of my younger brothers had been stubborn and came very close to that. I hoped Rosemarie wouldn't let it get that far, but I'd she was just as stubborn as her mother- I'd seen proof of that three days ago. If she refused to let go, it would end tragically.

I couldn't bring myself to tell Erick any of this, though. He looked too scared and lost to have to deal with the idea that he was going to lose her. Besides, if he knew that, we might not ever get him to leave. If he really wanted the whole truth, Leah could fill him in after we got him out of the house.

Rosemarie gave another particularly violent shudder and her torso raised a few feet off the couch. You could litterally see the beast trying to burst its way out of her. She screamed louder than ever. I sat on the edge of the couch and stroked her forehead.

"No, I'm definitely not going anywhere." Erick said stubbornly coming to stand behind the couch. "I wanna know that she's going to be alright."

"I get that, Erick." I told him. "She's your best friend and, up until three days ago, you were the only thing she had left in the world. That's not true anymore. She has a whole family now. And we are the only ones that can get her through this unharmed. If you go with Leah, now, she'll explain everything and you'll understand. But you need to leave now. Please." I finished trying to stare him down.

He didn't budge from his spot behind the couch, not even when Leah grabbed his wrist and tried to drag him out again. If it hadn't been for the imprint, which made him want to touch her, he probably would've tried to rip his hand from hers. He just stood there glaring at me.

I sighed and narrowed my eyes. The teo best friends were a perfect match. Each just as stubborn as the other one. There was more than one reason that we needed him to leave. I just hadn't wanted to bring it up, because I didn't want to freak him out more than he already was, but he had left me no choice. Maybe if he understood what Rosemarie could do when this was over it would make him leave.

"Look, Erick," I said standing to meet his eyes. "This probably won't make much sense now, but when you talk to Leah you'll understand. You knew to leave for your own safety. I don't know how much control Rose will have when this is over. She's got a lot of rage inside of her. She might not be able to channel it properly, yet. If she can't control herself, you'll be an easy target. The rest of us will be able to defend ourselves if we need to. But she could hurt you and not even realize she doing it, until it's too late. I know you don't want to give her the chance to do something she could regret for th rest of her life."

He continued to glare at me as he stood behind the couch. His eyes now held more fear and confusion though. I could tell that he didn't want to move, but my words had gotten to him.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked through gritted teeth. He tried to cover up his fear with anger, but I didn't miss the shake in his voice. Of course, I didn't point it out either. I was getting to him, I didn't want to ruin that.

"Come with me and I will explain everything." Leah said. She had let go of his wrist and was now holding his hand tightly in hers. She tried pulling him again and this time he actually started following her. He stopped halfway to the door.

"Tell Jacob, if anything happens to her, I am holding you and him personally responsible for it."

I nodded. I felt my anger rise at his words and for a split second I had to fight my own beast. I knew he was only trying to take care of Rosemarie in the only way he knew how in this situation, but my beast didn't like being threatened. He wanted to show Erick that he was the more powerful of the two of them. I didn't let it, though. We could have a pissing contest later. Rosemarie had to be the priority.

I looked back to Rosemarie as I forced my beast back down. Seeing her like this helped calme the Erick had pulled up. I needed to stay in control because my imprintee needed me and I wasn't going to let her down.

I heard Leah whisper something to Erick, but didn't care enough to pay too much attention to it. Footsteps followed her words and, less than a minute later, I heard the door open and close. I was left alone with the still convulsing and screaming Rosemarie.

I sat back down on the couch and started stroking her hair.

"Come on, Rosie." I whispered. "Just let it out. It'll all go away if you just let it out. It won't hurt anymore, if you just let go. Please."

I decided then that I was very glad that Leah and Erick had left me alone, because I couldn't hold my fear in any longer. I buried my head in her sweaty neck and started crying. All I could think about was: What if she wasn't able to make it through this?

**JACOB**

Once Seth and Leah left to go to Rosemarie and Erick, Sam and I sat in the kitchen in a tense silence. Sam sat across from me with his arms crossed over his chest. He had gotten so good at looking and keeping himself calm and in control, even if he was seething with rage. As he sat that, if I hadn't felt the anger and worry radiating off him, I would've never known it was there.

I wasn't as good as Sam was. I sat there fidgeting and bouncing around. I had to take deep breaths and try not to think about what could possibly be happening with the Cullens and Bella right now. Every time I did, it got harder and harder to keep my beast inside.

We were both staring at my phone as though willing it to ring. I could tell Sam was just as worried about Bella as I was. It didnt' surprise me. My brothers that had been around before she left, had cared about and loved her as much as I did. Not in the same way, of course, but definitely not any less. There'd be just as concerned as I was. That's why Sam and I decided not to tell them about any of this until we knew for sure what was going on.

Less than an hour after Leah and Seth, my phone started ringing. I had never been one to buy or put fancy ringtones on my phone. It just always seemed like a huge waste of time to me. So everyone had the same standard tone of a simple ringing phone.

Without even looking at the I.D., I flipped the phone open and put it to my ear.

"Give me good news, Edward." I said quickly praying they were able to bring her back.

"I hate to disappoint." Leah's voice came through the other end. "But it's not Edward and I have anything, but good news."

My heart rate picked up even as it slid from my chest to my stomach. What the hell was going on now? And weren't things already bad enough without more bad news? I was already worried about Bella and what was happening to her. I didn't have much room for anything else to worry about. I suppose life wouldn't stop for one crisis though. You had to learn to deal with all of them or you were in deep shit.

"What's going on now?" I said sighing deeply.

"It's Rosemarie." Leah answered. "She's started the transformation." I didn't think it was possible, but my heart slid further down my body. It couldn't take much more before it ended up on the floor. "And she's fighting it. Hard." Yup, there it went right onto my kitchen floor.

I sat in my chair, nonplussed. A million thoughts as fears ran through my mind as she said the words. It wasn't very often that you saw a werewolf that fought the transformation. Usually it happened too quickly for them to realize what was happening. Occassionally, you'd get a human body that realizes something unnatural is about to happen and will try to stop it from happening.

The beast doesn't like to be silenced, though, and the two bodies will often wage war on each other. A war that would eventually rip the human to pieces. It was one of the more painful ways to die, or at least that's what I've heard. We've had three or four brothers who came close to it, but always managed to pull themselves through before it got to that point.

Fear was coursing through me. It was bad enough that she was going to have to go through the transformation, but for her to half to deal with both bodies fighting for control in a battle that could end with her death, it wasn't fair. Hadn't she already been through enough? She had lost her mother and had a million questions that could not be answered. And now she had a beast trying to rip its way out of her body. Did she really deserve that?

"Jake, are you there?" Leah's voice brought me out of my own head.

"Yes." I said.

I took a deep breath because I knew what needed to be done. Sam and I had coached the few others who dealt with this through it. We could do the same thing for Rosemarie. It might be a little harder, because she had inherited the Swan stubborness, but it could be done. I looked over to Sam who nodded rising from his chair.

"Sam and I are on our way." I told her. "Tell Seth the only thing he can do is try to make her comfortable and keep talking to her."

"Okay." Leah answered and I imagined she was nodding. "And what about Erick?"

"Get him out of there." I told him. We had enough to worry about without endangering the life of a human. "Take him somewhere, Leah. It doesn't matter where. Just get him out of the house, because we don't want Rosemarie to do something she'll regret when she finishes the transformation. Once he away, tell him everything. He needs to understand what's happening." 

"Okay." Leah said through the phone. Her answer was punctuated with a distant scream from Rosemarie. It hurt to hear my child in that kind of pain. I had to make it stop.

"Sam and I are on our way." I said quickly and flipped the phone shut. I had to get there and make her pain stop. I couldn't stand the thought of her hurting like that.

Sam didn't speak as we both ran out the back door. We both ran toward the forest taking off our shorts in the process. Once we reached the trees, I let the best out and it was the best feeling that I had had all day. Yes, I was still worried about Rosemarie, but running on four legs had always been one of the most freeing things I had ever experieced. It helped me to clear my head and focus.

As it were, I was focusing on what was going on with Rosemarie. Imagines of her lying on the floor writhing and screaming as her two forms fought for control. Or, worse even than that, Rosemarie lying on the floor dead after having lost the fight. And then, not so bad, Rosemarie running along beside me in wolf form. The two of us bonding in a way that would make even the best father/daughter duo jealous.

_"And that's what's going to happen." _Sam thought to me. _"We are not going to let her die. We will do everything in our powers to get her through this. I promise." _

_"I know." _I thought back. _"I just don't think I could survive if I lost them both." _

_"You won't." _

We weren't silent after that. Neither of us knew what else to say, especially since we could see each others thoughts playing out as we ran. He was just as worried as I was, but seemed confident we could help her. I was pretty confident to, even if the voice in the back of my head was telling me trying to make me believe something different.

It was the thought that we had yet to lose a brother to this that kept me from listening to that voice. We had experience with this situation and a variety of methods to try. One of them was bound to work, right.

We arrived at the Swan's old house in time to see Leah walking out the door with Erick. The were holding hands. Erick looked lost and afraid, but I knew the imprint made him trust Leah. He would follow her to the ends of the Earth if she asked.

As they disappeared into the trees on the other side of the house, Sam and I turned back into humans and quickly put our shorts back on. We ran to the door and let ourselves in. The sight that met my eyes broke my heart.

Rosemarie was laying on the couch still convulsing and screaming. I could see, even from the door, that she had been sweating-her clothes were soaked in it. Seth was sitting on the couch beside her with his face buried in her neck. By the way his shoulders were shaking, I could tell that he had been crying. The air the room was thick with the scent of wolf. It was almost suffocating.

I walked over to the couch without pause and tapped Seth on the shoulder. He looked up with bloodshot eyes and tears rolling down his cheeks. When he saw it was me, he quickly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. It was apparently against the guy code to let another guy see you cry. I gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Well, handle it from here man." I told him. He nodded and stepped away from the couch. Sam had moved to stand behind the couch.

"Rosemarie," I whispered running my hand over his cheek. "It's Jacob. Can you hear me?"

She didn't respond. Her body just convulsed as she moaned in pain. I didn't expect her to be able to respond. We could never be sure if they were conscious or not while this was happening. The ones who had the misfortune of dealing with this said they couldn't remember anything, but the pain. We knew they had to be able to hear us and make some sense of our words, because we had successfully pushed each of them throught the difficult part of them transformation.

I looked at Sam who nodded and sat down on the back of the couch.

"Just talk." He said calmly. "She should be able to hear you."

I nodded and looked back down at my beautiful daughter. She looked so much like her mother with just enough of me to let the world know I was her father. You'd think that since I was her father, this would be a little easier than with any of the others, but it wasn't. I didn't know what to say to the daughter I've had for sixteen years but only just found out about three days ago.

Her body gave a huge convulsion and her torso lifted off the couch. The silence was permeated with her scream of pain. Seth, who had moved to the stand by her head at the end of the couch, dropped to his knees and started stroking her hair.

"Make it stop, please." she said voice cracking. Her body shook and tears leaked from her eyes. "It hurts so much."

Seth looked back at me with fresh tears in his eyes.

"Please do something, Jake?" He practically begged.

I took a deep breath and nodded. She was my daughter, after all. I didn't need any kind of a push to do what needed to be done. Yet, something about Seth words and the look in his eyes gave me a wave of resolved that made me more determined than ever.

I looked back down at Rosemarie's convulsing body as she continued to moan in pain and cupped her cheek in my hand. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me.

"Jacob? Is that you?" He voice was a hoarse painfilled whisper.

"Yes, baby, I'm here." I answered. "And I'm going to help you get through this."

"What is..." Her words were caught of by another scream of pain. Her torso lifted itself another few inches off the bed. If I hadn't known exactly what was happening, I would've thought that she was having an exorcism or something. "Feels like something is trying to get out of me."

"I know. And your body doesn't want to let it out because it isn't natural, but it has to come out. If you don't let it out, the effort to keep it in will kill you." I knew telling her that seemed extremely cold hearted, but now was not the time to beat around the bush or be nice. She needed to know what was going to happen to her if she didn't get through this. "I don't want you to die and neither does the rest of your new family. We want the chance to get to know you."

She was still looking at me with tears in her eyes as I spoke. I couldn't be sure if she was taking in a single thing I said. The pain might have been too much for her to make sense of anything. She gave me a slight nod, though. Probably in too much pain to speak. I continued talking then.

"That's why I need you to listen. This thing inside of you, it is a big part of who you are and who I am. It's a our family legacy and it isn't unnatural for us. Your body thinks it is, but it you let it out, you'll find it is as natural for you as the color of your skin and hair."

"What is it?" I asked through gritted teeth as another convulsion rocked through my body.

"A wolf." He whispered brushing the hair off my sweat matted forehead.

She didn't even get a chance to react to my words. Her torso jumped another few feet off the couch and she let out a bloodcurdling scream this time. A lump was slowly rising in my throat as tears burned my eyes. I needed to get her through.

"Shit!" Sam said from his spot behind the couch. I looked up to ask him what that was about, but he was pointing at her stomach. I looked down to see that the cami she had been wearing was soaked in blood. I lifted the shit to see what had caused the blood. Four thin, but deep and jagged claw marks slashed across her stomach.

The beast was tearing her up right before or eyes. I had to get her to transform and fast o she was going to bleed to death. I wiped furiously at the tears that were now falling down my cheeks and turned to address Seth. He two was looking down at the claw marks with tears in his own eyes.

"Seth, get me a towel. I need to stop the bleeding." I said urgently. "I don't know if her accelerated healing will kick in before her first transformation." I didn't have to tell him twice. He ran right upset to the Swan's bathroom. I turned my attention back to my daughter. I had to get her out of this skin before her wolf killed her. "Rosemarie, I know this is unbelievable, but you have to let it go. You have to let it out, or it's going to rip you apart. I promise if you let it out, the pain will go away and you'll understand everything. You just have to let it out. Please."

Her body convulsed and she let out another scream. She never took her eyes off of me though. Seth had come back and was pressing the towels firmly and tightly to her stomach. She was staring at me with scared and painfilled eyes. I sighed because trying to coax her and calm her wasn't working. I hadn't wanted to resort to this, because it would give her what she needed to make the transformation, but it would bring things up that would hurt her more than the wolf ever could.

"Rosemarie, I want you to think about your mother and everything she did to you over the last sixteen years. She lied to you about everything. She lied about me and her time in Forks. She did things while she was in Forks that got her killed. She allowed people to take her away from her. Leaving you with a note that told you she was murdered and had been lying about me all your life. She sent you to Forks where you got more questions than answers. Questions that I refused to answer once you found out about me. Now here you are going through this horrible pain trying to keep this unnatural beast inside you and all because your mother lied to you. Think about that and how angry it makes you. Think of how much we hurt you, because we lied to you and wouldn't give you your answers."

She stared at me with those same hurt and painfilled eyes. Tears were leaking down her cheeks as she thought of everything that I had just said. She closed those eyes, so much like her mothers, and I thought for a moment that my idea hadn't worked, the her shape began to blur.

"Step back, guys." I said and could hear the relief in my own voice. "It's happening."

**ROSEMARIE**

I heard Jacob's words and couldn't help but do what he said. It had nothing to do with my want to stop the pain or anything like that. Hearing the things my mother had done thown back at me had drudge up all the complicated and confusing emotions that her death ellicited in me. The anger was always most prominent and for some reason, that part seemed pretty important at the time. Jacob finished his speech and I closed my eyes. Another convulsion rocked my body, but I ignored the pain, because I had something to focus on right now.

I closed my eyes and focused on everything that had happened since the four strangers showed up at my door. The strangers I had been convinced had something to do with my mother's death. I thought about the letter she left me and all the questions she never answered. All the questions that Jacob wouldn't answer either.

I focused on the rage that had been inside me since I found my house in ashes a little less than a month ago. I focused on it, then I gave it to the wolf that was trying to get out of me and I let it go.

Pain worse than anything I had felt in my life-including in the last ten or fifteen minutes-shot through my body as it exploded and the beast broke free.

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? I know this is nothing like Stephenie Meyer wrote it. I always thought that she made it too easy for her wolves though and wanted to try something different. I mean, the transformation is probably different for everyone and you will get the occassional person whose body does not want to accomodate the wolf. It is with those ideas that I wrote this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think. **


	19. Yesterday, I Died

**A/N: So I know you are all anxious to know what happened after Rosemarie's transformation. Unfortunately, you won't be finding out in this chapter. Instead, we are going to be seeing the Cullens' reactions to what the Volturi did to Bella. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. **

**EDWARD**

"Jasper, Emmett, I want the two of you to stick to Edward like glue." Carlisle said as we walked down the steet at a human pace. "Make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid."

We didn't want to attract too much attention to ourselves. We already knew how strange it looked that seven of us were walking towards an alley in the middle of the night. We didn't want to make it worse by walkingh at an abnormally fast pace.

The longer it took to get there, though, the more agitated and angry I became. I just wanted to have my beautiful Bella back in my arms as soon as possible. Screw what the other humans thought. Of course, I understood that we didn't want to give the Volturi another reason to want to punish this family. They had already done punished Bella enough for two lifetimes.

Carlisle's words did not help my anger and agitation. I couldn't believe he thought that I needed "babysitters." I understood what was at stake and I knew what would happen if I lost control. I wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt over this. No matter how angry I was.

I stopped and glared at Carlisle with my arms crossed over my chest.

"I don't need babysitters, Carlisle." I growled not bothering to hide the fact that I was angry.

"Judging from the way you were acting on the plane and in the car, I think you do." Carlisle replied crossing his arms over his chest. "If simply knowing what Aro and the others have done to Bella makes you that upset, then just imagine what actually hearing them thinking about it will do.

"You reactions when it comes to Bella's safety and happiness aren't always smart and rational. In fact, you tend to forget how to be either of those things when she is in danger or being hurt. In almost all the other cases of Bella's safety, being that was fine, because there was never any doubt that your stupidity and irrationality weren't going to get you killed. That's not the case this time. If you do something stupid or irrational today, you could get yourself and, possibly Bella, killed.

"And as much as I love Bella and want her back with us, I've already lost her twice. I will not lose my son too. And I certainly won't make it any easier for Aro to take Bella away anymore than he already has. So you can either go down their with us and allow Jasper and Emmett to be your "babysitters," as you put, or or can stay up here. But either way, you will not endanger yourself or this family anymore than we already are."

I glared at him with my arms crossed over my own chest. I knew on some level that he was right. Bella always brought out the crazier and more dangerous side of my nature. We really couldn't afford that at the moment, though. I knew the Volturi were looking for any excuse they could find to destroy this family. We really didn't need to give them the ammo. As much as I knew I would hate going down there and listening to the thoughts of Bella's pain and humiliation, I knew I had no choice but to do it without being able to retaliate. Lord knows, I wasn't going to stay up here and wonder what was going on with my family. I wanted to know exactly what was happening and be there in case they needed me. If accepting my "babysitters" was the only way I was going to get down that sewer, then that is what I was going to do.

"Fine." I said with a reluctant sigh. "I'll take the babysitters."

"Good." Carlisle answewred and we continued walking. It wasn't until then that I notied the others had stopped to watch our conversation. They were all apprehensive and they had been affraid that I was going to do something I'd regret to Carlisle.

Those thoughts irritated me a little. Carlisle had been my father for over a century. I loved him the way I always imagined I loved my human father. The only way I would ever hurt him is if I found out he was personally responsible for Bella's suffering. They rest of them should know this by now.

I didn't mention any of this to them, though. Tension were already high and emotions at a breaking point. We didn't need anything that would cause a family fight. We needed to be united when we met the Volturi, especially if things came to a fight. If we weren't, they would pull us apart.

We walked for another five minutes before we reached the motuh of the alley were the sewer drain that lead to the Volturi's home was. Carlisle stopped in the opening and turned to face me with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked like this was the last thing he wanted to do and his thoughts seemed to agree with him.

"Before we go in there, Edward." he said."You need to be prepared for what could happen. Like I said earlier, there is a major possibility that Aro is not going to willingly let her leave and he'd be well within his rights to keep her here." He sighed a pinched the bridge of his nose. "If that happens, we must simply walk away. We can't fight or argue. We just have to let it go."

"Bullshit." I growled. "If he won't give her to us willingly, then we will fight for her. I'm not walking out of Volterra without her."

Carlisle sighed and shook his head.

"Edward, we are going to be up against all three brothers and their entire guard." He said trying to get me to see reason. "The seven of us wouldn't stand a chance at defeating them alone. If fought them today, we'd be slaughtered and then where would Bella be? We have to leave and come back some another time with a better plan and reinforcements."

"But Carlisle, she's already killed a human without any sign of remorse. If we wait to long, they'll turn her into an emotionless monster, like them and there won't be any Bella left to save."

"I know, Edward, but we don't have any other choice." Carlisle replied placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. "I know you and everyone else in this family would be willing to die to save, Bella, but we all know that she never wanted any of us to do that and I refuse to allow Aro to pull my family apart anymore than he already has. So we are going to this my way and come back when we have a better chance of winning. Do you understand?"

I stared into his eyes and could see that the idea of leaving Bella here any longer was killing him as much as it was killing me. He knew we had no chance of taking Bella back by force tonight, though. He knew we would need a lot more than just the seven of us to make it happen. I knew he was right. We'd have to leave her and come back another day. As much as I hated to admit it or even do it. I knew it was the smartest move for everyone involved.

"Okay," I finally sighed. "If he refuses to give her up, we'll leave and come back another day."

"Thank you." Carlisle replied and squeeze my shoulder before leading the way into the alley.

As expected, Jane was standing beside the sewer drain, waiting for us. She her trademark sadistic smirk on her face as she stared at the seven of us. The second her eyes fell on me, he thoughts took an evil turn.

_Bella was on her hands and knees scrubbing dried blood of a floor with nothing more than a toothbrush. Jane and a few others were standing around laughing while the taunted and abused her. A few of them even pointed out missed spots and shoved her face into them so she wouldn't mistake which stops they were pointing at. _

I growled and nearly lunged at her. Emmett's hand closed tightly on my shoulder and I sent Jasper sending me waves of calm. I hadn't want to accept them. I wanted to go at Jane and tear her limb from limb and do the same thing to those who had hurt and humiliate my angel like that. The only thing that kept me from doing that was the thought that they still had Bella could hurt her if I hurt one of them. I took a deep, unecessary, but calming breath and allowed Jasper's gift to flow over me.

Jane let out one of her sadistic giggles, but turned her attention to Carlisle. Her smile turned into one of fake happiness and her voice dripped with false politeness as she spoke.

"Carlisle, it's good of you to visit after such a long time." she told him. "Aro has, of course, been expecting you."

"We figured that would be the case." Carlisle replied with a fake smile of his own. I could tell by his thoughts that was a lie. Considering all of Bella's friends and family thought she was dead and he had this shield that kept Alice from seeing their future, how could he have known that we were coming for her?

"And we all know that he doesn't like to be kept waiting." Carlisle added. I knew he was trying to hurry our walk along for my sake. He didn't want to give Jane to much time to torture me.

"You're quite right, Carlisle. Shall we?" She stepped aside and gestured to the sewer drain.

One by one we slipped down the drain and laided in the long tunnel perfectly balanced on two feet. My reprieve from Jane's thoughts only lasted until she landed in the tunnel and began leading us toward the Volturi fortress.

_Bella was once again kneeling in a room. This time she was naked and surrounded by the entirety of the Volturi guard. She was crying as she begged Aro to forgive her for something. She was so hysterical, though, I couldn't make out her words. _

_Aro walked up to her and began stroking her hair as if he was going to forgive her. Instead, he backhanded her hard across the face. There wasn't enough force to send him flying, but it did knock her the rest of the way to the floor and she was left clutching her cheek and staring up at him fearfully. _

He started speaking after that, but my growls of anger drowned out the words. I, once again, found that the only things that kept me from attacking were Emmett's hand on my shoulder, Jasper's calming waves, and thoughts of how much worse it could be for Bella if I did.

Jane giggled and let the memory- which consisted of Aro humiliating Bella by raping and beating her in front of the entire guard- play out as we continued to walk down the hall. Memories of what they had to done to my human continued to run through her mind.

Most of them consisted of Bella on her knees begging for forgiveness that never seemed to come. In fact, I could see that Aro took as much pleasure in making her beg as he did in punishing her for her wrong doing. Jane's memories also included Bella crying as she was being punished for crying and Bella being publically humialiated and degraded.

It was worse than anything I could've possibly imagined thm capable of. Yet, I somehow managed to keep my cool as we walked down the long hallway by growling at Jane and letting out a string of profanities that would've made Esme reprimand me in normal circumstances. Today though, she simply stared at me with the look of a mother who couldn't do anything to stop her son's suffering.

"Jane, I have no idea what you are thinking," Jasper finally said from beside me. "But unless you want Emmett and I to let Edward go and see what happens, knock it off."

"Go ahead." Jane said and I could hear the smirk in her voice. "Let him go. Just remember, Aro still has his little girlfriend to take retribution from."

Nobody said anything to that. I heard everyone asking themselves the same question, however. Did Aro know that we knew Bella was a vampire? Or did he think that we believed she was still human? Nobody asked Jane these things, though. If we had an upper hand, then we wanted to keep it that way.

We continued to walk down the tunnel in silence. Thankfully, Jane had taken Jasper's hint and stopped thinking about Bella's pain and humiliation. Instead, she thought about what was waiting for them when they arrived in the brother's "throne room." As Carlisle had expected, Aro had gathered the entire guard and they were all waiting anxiously for us.

While she was very careful not to think about exactly what Aro had done, Jane amused herself by contemplating how we would react to the news. She wondered if we would fight and hoped she'd get a crack at me before I was killed. She contemplated if we would fight to the death for Bella or if we would surrender once the first member fell.

These thoughts didn't bother me as much as the one's of Bella's pain and humiliation had. It probably had something to do with the fact that we had already decided that we wouldn't fight today, no matter what happened. It didn't hurt to know that we would be coming back with a better plan and bigger army to take Bella back by force, either.

It as a good thing that I had been able to recover from Jane's assault on me mind before she pushed opened the doors and led us into the brothers "throne room." It was just like Jane had thought. The entire guard was standing in a circle against the walls with Aro, Caius, and Marcus sitting on the thrones at the head of the circle.

I was bombarded with more thoughts of the horrid things those monsters did to my precious little human as we stepped into the room. There were too many thoughts for me to keep up with who was thinking what or follow any memories to the end. Images of Bella being raped, abused, and humiliated flashed past my mind and it took everything I had to keep from lashing out at all of them.

Aro, Caius, and Marcus's thoughts were the worst. Aro thought about all the things he made her do to him and how he would make her tell him that she enjoyed every minute of it. How he refused to let her cry without being punishment for it.

Images of her tied naked to a bed in some of the most humiliating and uncomfortable position flahsed through Caius's mind. He'd make her stay in those position all night, so that she'd be ready for him when he wanted more.

Marcus's were probably the worst of all, though. He had done the most to humiliate her by treating her like a lover. He was as gentle and kind as possible while he was raping her. And when he was finished, he'd beat her and send her away like she meant nothing to him.

I wished I was human as I stood in the middle of that circle and listened to the horrible thoughts that were running through their heads. God, how I wished I could throw up. I closed my eyes and tried to block the images of my angel being hurt and humiliated in the worst possible ways. If I was expected to listen to this the whole time, I wasn't sure I would be able to keep it together long enough to get through this meeting.

Jane left my family in the middle of the circle and walked straight up to Aro. She curtsied and he inclined his head in greeting. He job down she took her spot in the circle and waited for the fun to begin.

"Carlisle," Aro said with a genuine smile throwing his arm wide in a gesture of welcome. "So nice fo you to visit. I must admit, though, I wish it were under better circumstances." I couldn't tell if he was being honest or not, because he was still thinking about a particularly horrible night with Bella that ended with her being dragged unconcious from the room by Felix. I let out another growl, which Aro ignored. Jasper and Emmett, however, gripped my arms tighter and Jasper doubled his effort to calm me with his gift. I let them do it, because I didn't want give Aro and excuse to hurt Bella anymore.

"As I do." Carlisle replied in an indifferent tone. He didn't want to be rude, but he didn't want to make Aro think that he was okay with what the Volturi had been doing. "I must admit, though, I'm a little confused."

"About what, my friend?" His smile widened as he spoke.

"Both you and Jane have implied that we are here to discuss what had been going on with Bella." Carlisle stated what had been on his mind since we went down the sewer. "However, because of your guard, Bella's friends and family all believe her to have died in a house fire. So how could you possibly know that we knew she was alive and being kept here?"

"That's a fair question, Carlisle and one that I am more than happy to answer." Aro replied with a smile. His thoughts changed for a fraction of a second. He had been hoping that we would ask that question because he had something that he wanted to rub in our faces.

He nodded to someone in the circle to the left of us. Instinctuallly, everyone in the family turned their heads to look where Aro had nodded. Two people, a man and a woman, stepped out from their spot in the circle.

The woman was short and petite. She was as pale as any vampire, but there was a dark enough hint to her skin that told me she had an ethnic background. Her hair was so dark brown that if I hadn't been a vampire I would've mistaken it for black and fell in smile curls down to her tail bown. Her eyes were red just like the rest of them and they held the same sadistic glint that I had been so used to see on Jane's face. I imagined the girls were best buddies. She was wearing a pair of washed out blue jeans with a gray tank top and black leather jacket.

The man was just short of six feet tall and had muscles that put Emmett's to shame. I actually felt Emmett'sgrip on my arm loosen as he looked at the man standing before us. I don't think any of us ever expected to see someone bigger than Emmett. We had gotten to comfortable with the muscle in our family. This man scared all of us. He had shoulder length blonde hair that he pulled back into a ponytail. His red eyes held a hint of kindness that I hadn't seen from anyone else in the room. He too was wearing a pair of washed out blue jeans with a white t-shirt that stretched tightly over his muscular chest.

Both walked past the family and towards Aro with an arrogant confidence that irritated me beyond belief. I didn't understand why, though. We had more to worry about than a couple of arrogant vampires.

As they walked by, I caught the sadistic thoughts of the woman. She was thinking about all the horrible things that she and Jane had done to Bella. From the look of it, they would offer to supervise Bella's chores just so they could have more fun with her. The woman enjoyed finding any excuse to hurt Bella. I growled under my breath as she walked by. She let out a small giggle worthy of Jane and it took all of my will power not to launch myself at her.

The man's thoughts, on the other hand, were very different. While he hadn't been overly kind to Bella, he hadn't gone out of his way to hurt her or make her life harder. His thoughts mostly consisted of him lying around his room while she cleaned it and simply ignoring her. I felt a rush of graditude toward this man. Sure, he hadn't tried to help her, but at least there was one person in this damned place who hadn't tried to hurt her.

They stopped in front of Aro and inlcined their heads respectfully toward him before turning to face us.

"Cullen family," Aro said with a smile of absolute delight. "I'd like to introduce you to two new members of my family. This lovely young woman," He placed a hand on the woman's shoulder and she smiled up at him, "Is Anita. And she is a shield like my Renata. Their gifts are very different, though. While Renata can only shield me against an attack of a physical nature, Anita, here, can shield me and any one of my choosing from certain vampire abilities. Like Alice's," He inclined his head toward Alice, "All Anita must do is touch the mind of someone, human or vampire, once and she becomes an automatic shield against a psychic's abilities. I have yet tested all the abilities that her gift works on, but to be able to block a psychic as powerful as Alice is quite an accomplishement. Anita is a wonderful asset to my guard, even if that's the only thing she can block.

"I must admit, though, the fact that Alice was able to see Bella at all after Anita touched Bella's mind, makes me wonder if I underestimated Alice's power."

"Not my power." Alice told him in a cold voice. Her eyes were narrowed as she glared at him. She wasn't into pretending that we weren't angry with Aro for what he was doing and I was glad that at least one of them felt that way about it. "Just my bond with Bella. She's like my sister and that's one of the strongest bonds their is. You'd be hard pressed to find a shield that could completely block her from me, unless, of course, you broke that bond." She didn't tell him that she was worried he already had. She didn't want to give him anymore to hang over our heads.

"I see." Aro answered as his smile grew ever wider. "I'll have to keep that in mind." I didn't know what he meant by that and his thoughts weren't giving anything away. He was thinking about a night when he and his brothers took her at the same time in each of her holes. God, I really wished I could've thrown up or just torn Aro limb from limb.

Aro removed his hand from Anita with a smirk and turned to the man who was standing beside him arms crossed over his chest.

"And this gentleman is Damien." Aro ssid squeezing his shoulder. "He, too, is a psychic Alice." His smile grew wider as he watched Alice. "Of course, his brand of seeing the future makes what you can do seem like mere fortune teller." Alice growled at the insult and Esme actually had to touch her shoulder and remind her not to do anything stupid. "You see, while Damien has vision like Alice does, he sees more than the path a person is currently on. He can see every possibility for a particular person's future. He can tell you what decision need to be made to get a certain outcome. He can tell me exactly what I need to do to mold the future into what I want and keep it that way.

"It was he who first made me aware that Alice had beaten the block Anita had been trying to hold on Bella. It was Damien who told me that you would be coming to negotiate her freedom. And it was Damien who told me the best way to handle your visit was to turn Bella into one of us."

I couldn't help myself when he said that, because I just had to know.

"Why?" I asked being careful not to struggle in Emmett and Jasper's grip. I didn't want them to think that their was a reason to worry about me.

"Lots of reasons." Aro replied with a smile. His thoughts changed slightly. They still consisted of memories of the times he had hurt and raped Bella, but she was no longer human, she was a vampire and he was hurting her worse than ever before. Her body was more resistant to it now that she had changed.

"You fucking asshole." I growled surprising even myself with my word choice. Nobody said anything, but I felt my brothers' grip tighten on my arms again.

Aro laughed, but didn't say anything. He continued to think about raping and abusing the now vampire Bella. And there was a definite warning in those thoughts. I tried very hard to calm myself for Bella's sake.

"Okay, so let's cut to the chance." Carlisle said wanting to spare me further pain. "Damien told you why we have come, so just tell us what you want in exchange for Bella's freedom. Surely, you know we'll give you anything you ask for."

I didn't think it was possible, but Aro's smile widened even more as he turned to look at Damien.

"You told me that's what he would say, but I didn't believe it." He then looked back to Carlisle. "Damien knew you would be coming here to ask me that, but I honestly never believed my friend, Carlisle, would be stupid enough to think it would work."

I wasn't the only one who growled this time. In fact, Carlisle had to throw his arms at to prevent his wife and daughters from lunging at Aro. We were all thinking that same thing: How dare he insult our the head of our family like that?

"I never once believed that it would work, Aro." Carlisle growled and I cold tell Aro was pushing him to a breaking point. "But I hoped."

Aro chuckled.

"Now, if I had been able to track Bella down, ten or so years ago, I would've been willing to trade her for Alice, but now that I have Damien, who is virtually omniscent, I have no need for anyone in your pathetic little coven."

"You son of a bitch!" Alice growled dropping into a crouch. Rosalie placed a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her again.

"Tut. Tut. Tut." Aro said shaking his head. "Such dirty words coming from such a pretty girl." Alice glared at him, but he simply chuckled and continued, "Now, nearly twenty years ago, you had the chance to create another vampire that I would've traded Bella for, but you missed your chance. I suppose considering that vampire was supposed to be Bella, it does kind of defeat the person."

His words, thought they sounded like complete nonsense, made perfect sense to me. More importantly, they made things we had all been wondering since Bella came into my life start clicking into place. I know understood why certain vampire powers didn't work on Bella and why Aro wanted her as a vampire. Bella was another form of a shield. Most likely, she was the opposite of Anita. Any powers that Anita couldn't block, Bella could. And considering Bella's gift had manifested while she was still human, she was going to be a pretty powerful shield, once Aro trained her. And when that happened, Aro would have all his bases covered. He would have a shield for everything and be utterly invincible.

I heard all these things run through the thoughts of every member of my family as Aro's plans clicked in their heads. They were just as outraged and scared as I was.

"So what, Aro?" Carlisle asked through gritted teeth. "You're just going to keep her here against her will for all enternity? Force her to do what you want forever? Surely, you know that she will eventually get strong enough to run from you. You can't honestly think that she'll put up with that forever."

"But you see, Carlisle, thanks to Damien, it won't be against her will." Aro answered and I could hear the laughter in his voice.

Acting, as always, on her maternal instincts, Esme stepped forward to stand beside Carlisle. She had the fierce look of a mother about to go to war for her child.

"We'd all feel a lot better if we heard that from Bella herself. Can you at least allow us to talk to her?"

"I'm afraid Bella does not wish to see you right now." Aro answered with a smirk.

There it was, Alice's vision. Usually, when Alice's vision start to play out, they make more sense, but I was still just as confused as ever when I heard Aro say those words. Why wouldn't Bella want to see us? SHe couldn't possibly be angry with us for letting this happen. She was the one who walked away from us after all?

"I think it would be more appropriate to say it wouldn't be safe to allow Bella to see you right now." Caius sneered.

Those words scared me. Why would it be unsafe for us to see Bella? We knew she was a newborn with heightened emotions, but certainly she wouldn't be angry or do anything that would hurt us?

"What the hell does that mean?" I growled.

"Let me show you, Edward." Aro answered tauntingly. All of his memories of the things he had done to Bella just ended and he focused on only one and I watched the images pull out as he remembered it all.

_I was in someone's bedroom staring at a very confused and scared Bella. She was sitting on the bed, curled into Felix's embrace. Aro and the others were telling her about a man who had kidnapped her from them. This man had raped her repeadtedly and left her to die. And all because Felix wouldn't give her up or even share her with him. _

_When the story finished, she dry sobbed into Felix's shoulder for awhile before she lifted her head and asked who this guy was. _

_"Edward Cullen." Felix whispered. _

I didn't listen to the rest of the memory after that. My rage wouldn't allow it. All I saw was red and I took pleasure in imagining tearing Aro limb from limb as he screamed. I hadn't even been conscious of planning to attack, but I suddenly found that I had ripped myself from Jasper and Emmett's grasp and leapt at Aro preparing to rip him to pieces.

I hadn't even gotten halfway through my leap when Jane's gift hit me like a ton of bricks. I fell out of the air and hit the stone floor with what a human would've considered a bruising force. Pain shot through every part of my body making me feel like every nerve was on fire. My body writhed and contorted with pain, but, as always, I managed not to scream. Jane took pleasure in the pain she could cause others, but she failed to understand that there was worse pain than she could cause someone. Knowing that Bella now hated me and that Aro had caused that, was definitely worse than any pain I could ever imagine.

When it finally stopped, I found myself surrounded by my mother and sisters all fussing over me and asking if I was okay. Esme was staring down at me with a look of fear and sympathy so great, I knew that she'd be crying if she could.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she said swatting at my arm. "They could've killed you. How could you be so stupid?"

I ignored her words and tried to get up. I would not be satisfied until Aro was in pieces at my feet. All three women grapped me and held me down. I struggled against them.

"Let me go." I nearly screamed. "You don't know what he did."

Rosalie looked at me incredulously.

"I'm a rape victim, Edward and Jasper's spent a century in a world were they regularly took human slaves." She practically growled. "I think we have a better idea than you of what he did to her."

"No, it's worse than that." I said, but stopped trying to get up. I knew there was no way they would let me get close to that monster.

"What could possibly be worse than raping her?" Rosalie asked.

"Tell them." I growled at Aro.

"With pleasure." Aro smiled.

He told them how he had turned Bella against us after she became a vampire. How he made her forget everything and planted these new ideas in her head. And of how she'd probably try to kill me if she saw me. He explained everything with a smile of amusment on his face and I wished again that I could tear him limb from limb.

"I supposed that means we are at an impasse." Carlisle stated once Aro finished. "You have made it so, even if you let her go, Bella wouldn't willing come with us. And even if we were stupid enough to fight all of you and lucky enough to win, I wouldn't dream of forcing her to come with us agaisnt her will. So my family and I are going to do the only thing we can do."

"And what's that Carlisle?" I growled from the floor.

_"Leave and come back with reinforments." _Carlisle thought. Outloud he said, "Leave you and your coven in peace. But I won't you to know, Aro, that this isn't over."

"I never thought it was, Carlisle." Aro replied with a smirk. "I never thought it was."

**A/N: So what do you guys think? Like the cliffhanger? **


	20. All Were Waiting

**A/N: Sorry this one took so long to get out. My muses have been stuck on my novel recently and I got a little stuck on how to move this one forward. I think I've worked it out, though. This chapter is going to pick up about three days after the Cullens' meeting with the Volturi and Rosemarie's transformation. That way the Cullens are already back in Washington and Rosemarie and Erick have been fully informed about vampires and werewolves. Rosemarie is now back to be human and preparing for the hardest conversation of her life. **

**ROSEMARIE**

"Is all this really necessary?" I asked gesturing to the room around me.

It was three days after my first transformation and I had finally calmed myself down enough to transform back into a human. I was back to sitting on the couch in my grandfather's old house with my head on Seth's shoulder. He had my hand held tightly in his. Erick was sitting on my other side, holding my free hand in one of his- Leah's hand was in his other hand. I had just spent the last few hours in and out of sleep. Jacob said the first transformation always takes a lot out of you. He assured me that the exhaustion would get better the more I transformed.

Unfortunately, he couldn't assure that the pain would lessen over time. He just said that I would get used to it. I suppose I could live with that, though, especially because after the pain and confusion of transforming and before the exhaustion that followed, there was a million wonderful little things in between. Like running.

Running was my favorite part about the whole werewolf thing. To just run through the woods feeling the bracken, dirt, and other green things against the bottom of my paws as the wind whipped through my fur was the most freeing thing in the world. I loved the speed and feeling of utter strength that came with it. More importantly, I no longer felt lost when I was running. I felt exactly where I belonged and that was something I needed after the last two weeks of my life.

As I ran, my father explained everything to me about how our family comes from a long line of powerful werewolves and it was our jo to protect the humans from vampires. Yes, he told me all of this while we were both werewolves! Being in wolf form made us telepathic. He told me our connection wouldn't be to the same degree as the rest he had with his pack. His pack could hear everything the others were thinking. Jacob and I could only hear what the other wanted us to hear. I was okay with that, even if I could sense there was still a lot he was keeping from me.

It was amazing to think that all of the supernatural creatures that had spent my childhood reading and fantasizing about where actually real. I had always wondered if they existed somehow, somewhere. I had even made up games and imaginary friends based off this belief. I'd never in a million years have guessed that these creatures really do exist. It was the ultimate surprise, even if it was the biggest shock of my life.

It made me angry that my mother had, not only, known about their existence, but had been in love with two supernatural creatures and failed to tell me about any of it. She knew how open to those kinds of things that I had been all my life. She knew that I wouldn't think she was crazy when she told me the story. Yet, she never said anything at all.

That anger didn't last long, though. I knew my mother well enough to know that she had her reasons for not telling me these things. It upset me that she didn't, but there was always a reason for her not doing those kind of things.

All and all, though, the experience, however, painful and scary had been one of the best of my life and I couldn't wait to do it all again. I couldn't wait to get my hands on some vampires, especially if it turns out they're the ones that took my mother from me.

"I'm sorry, honey." Jacob said answering my question. "But, yes, all this is really necessary."

He too swept his arm around the room. Standing in the four corners of the living room were four of Jacob's "brothers", Paul, Jared, Embry, and Quil. They were standing in a stony silence with their arms crossed over their bare chests. It was hard to tell what any of them were thinking as they stood there. Sam was still there too. Only he was sitting in the armchair accross from the couch. Jacob had been pacing the floor for the last ten minutes.

He had now come to stand in front of the couch as he talked to me.

"You are a brand new werewolf, sweetie. And you're a million times more voliatle than the rest of us." He continued explaining. "Being in the presence of one vampire would be enough to set you off and you are going to be meeting seven in the next hour or so."

That was very true. Jacob had just spent the last twenty minutes talking to one of the Cullens. I didn't know which one or what they discussed, because Jacob spent most of the conversation hiding out of hearing range. However, he came back to inform me that they were on their way to meet me so I could finally get all of my answers. I was a little scared about what would happen, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Until he brought in my four "uncles" that's when it started getting scary as hell.

"We aren't completely positive how you will handle that, but we can't risk you attacking unprovoked. Not only would it mean a broken treaty and most likely war, but you're mother cared deeply about the Cullens and I don't want you to do anything that you'll regret. Jared, Paul, Quil, and Embry are here to help you make sure that you don't do anything you'll regret while the Cullens are here."

I nodded, but then something clicked in my head. It was the thing that had been nagging at the back of mind since Jacob explained everything. There had just been too much going on for me to focus on what it was. Yet, Jacob's mention of the transformation being set of by the presence of a vampire made it hit me.

"I don't understand something, though." I said. "If the presence of vampires is what sets of the transformation, but the Cullens haven't been around much since I've been here, what set off the gene? I understand that it could've just been their presence in Forks, but, now that I'm thinking about it, nothing I saw gave off any impression that there were vampires in town. What caused it to happen now? It seems really important that I know that."

Jacob sighed and looked to Sam. Sam simply shrug and I got the impression that he was telling Jacob it was up to him how he answered the question. I gulped, because I suddenly wasn't sure I wanted him to answer it.

"Unfortunately, that's not a question I can answer right now." Jacob finally said slowly and carefully. I opened my mouth to object, but he held up his hand. "I didn't say that I wasn't going to answer. I just think that it's answer that has to come with the whole story. You wouldn't be able to understand the hows and whys of it all, not until you've heard the entire story. And, seeing as I can't tell the whole story alone, that answer has to wait for the Cullens to arrive."

"Whya does that make me feel like I'm not going to like the answer?" I asked slowly and calmly.

Jacob sighed and sat down on the coffee table in front of me. He placed his hand on me knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. I had a feeling that if it hadn't been for Erick and Seth holding my both my hands, he would've grabbed those instead.

"As much as I hate to say it, you should probably get used to not liking answers to most of your questions." His serious and solemn tone told me that he was not exaggerating. What could've happen to my mother that would be that bad? "I'm afraid only the beginning of this story is going to be happy, but by the time you're concieved, things get..." He trailed off looking down at his own lap.

"Bad." I said on the end of a deep sigh.

"Very, very bad." he answered nodding into his lap. I could hear that he was trying very hard no to cry as he spoke.

"Thank you for telling me, that." I said quietly extracting my hand from Erick's and placing it on top of Jacob's. "At least now, I can be prepared to handle it all when the time comes."

Jacob squeezed my hand and looked up at me with a sad smile on his face.

"I have no doubt in your ability to handle everything that you are going to hear today." He told me. "You are just like your mother. You're handling finding out about the existence of vampires and werewolves as well as she did. Better, I think, because she found out about vampires nearly a year before she found out about werewolves. You've found out about them in the same day and you are handling it with perfect finess. It's just gonna hurt a lot. I wish that could be different, but I'm sorry that it can't."

I nodded.

"So when are they going to get here?" I asked after a minute of silence.

"Well, Alice said they were just landing in Seattle when I spoke to them, so I'd give then another ten to fifteen minutes." Jacob answered.

"That's impossible." I replied shaking my head. "It took Erick and I at least an hour to get here from Seattle and you only talked to them like twenty minutes ago. They should need at least another forty minutes."

Everyone in the room except for Erick and I started chuckling.

"You don't know how the Cullens drive." Seth answered. "The once made a three day trip in less than twenty four hours and that was in an attempt to save your mother's life. I imagine they are seeing this situation with the same amount of urgency. They'll be here within twenty minutes."

It scared me a little to think about their driving at the point and I tried hard not to imagine the inoccent bystanders that could get killed if the vampires didn't react fast enough. I laid my head back on Seth's shoulder and Jacob got off the coffee table and started pacing again.

We were silent after that and I hated silence, especially at times like these. Silence meant time to think. Silence meant to worry and concentrate on the horrid things that I didn't want to concentrate on. I didn't want to have to think about what I was going to hear right now. I knew my imagination would make it worse than what it really was. I didn't want to have the chance to do that. So I pulled my head of Seth's shoulder and asked what I thought was a safe and unimportant question just to get my mind off the bad stuff.

"Jacob, you said that their plane landed in Seattle, where were they coming from?"

Jacob stopped his pacing and turned to look at me again. The look told me that I wasn't going to like the answer to this question either. He sighed and shook his head.

"Unfortunately, that's another question better answered after you've heard the whole story." He told me. It sounded like he really regretted that he had to ask me to wait. "It has a lot to do with what happened to your mother and it would be better understood if you knew everything before we told you where they were."

It was such a simple answer and an understandable explanation. And I honetly knew that he was only trying to do and say what was best for me, but I was really getting sick of still not being able to hear the whole truth. Besides, it was very hard to deal when I had nothing to put my imagination at ease. It didn't help matters that my emotions were still going haywire and my anger was so close to the surface. I needed more than what he was giving me if I was going to make it until the Cullens arrived.

I pulled my hand from Seth's and stood up to face Jacob head on. The fact that he looked so sad and angry that he had to keep these things from me didn't matter. I was too upset that he was still lying to and keeping things from me that I didn't care how he felt about it. I needed him to talk to me on my level and give me something to get me through this interminable wait.

"Is there anything that you can tell me before the Cullens get here?" I asked trying hard no to yell. I could feel the anger pulsing through my veins and fought like hell to get it under control. I didn't want to phase and hurt what was essentially the only family I had left. Still, I couldn't keep going without the answers I needed. "Because I have to tell you, these half truths and mostly lies are driving me crazy! I need something to make me feel better about all of this."

"I know." Jacob answered walking over to me and putting his hands on my shoulders. "And I wish I could give you the answers to all of your questions. But you don't understand, your mother's story is very complicated and without the Cullens I can only give you the half truths and mostly lies. I only know the parts of it that she spent with my pack and I. There are bits that they know better than I do and certain parts they can explain better than me. I'm sure they'll be able to tell you exactly what happened to your mother. I can only guess based off what they told me. I want you to get the full truth and not just guesses. I'm sorry."

He looked at the floor again shaking his head. I understood exactly what he was saying and, once again, knew he was doing what was best for me, but it didn't change how frustrating it all had become. Of all the things I expected to find when I came here, vampires and werewolves weren't even a thought in my head. My mother never even let on that she believed in any of it. To find out she was so interspersed in everything that it was dangerous, scared the hell out of me. I just wanted to find out what happened, so that I could make sense of everything.

"I'm sorry." I said in barely above a whisper. "I just need a minute."

I pulled myself gently away from Jacob and ran up the stairs. I heard Seth and Erick move to follow, but Sam stopped them.

"Let her go." His strong voice commanded.

I closed the bathroom door trying to block out the protest of the two best men in my life. I locked the door and went over to the sink. I needed to pull myself together before te Cullens arrived. If everything that Jacob had told me was right, I'd need all of my wits about me when I heard the story. I couldn't lose it now. Not before they could even tell me the ugly truth about my mother's life.

I took a couple of breaths and splashed water on my face. I took a minute to remind myself that I came here to find out the truth about what happened to my mother and she warned me that I might not like what I found. Is the supernatural part what she meant? Or was there something more. Something worse coming. Jacob made it sound like it was a hell of a lot worse than the vampire and werewolf thing.

"Damn it, mother!" I said in a frustrated whisper- I didn't want the extra sensitice ears to hear me- as I through the hand towel I'd just dried my face with onto the floor. "If only you had just been honest with me while you were still alive. All of this could've been avoided."

I slid to the floor trying, once again, to collect myself. I could do this. I had to do this. If only, for my own peace of my. I needed to know what happened and why. I needed to be able to move on and get over her death. I'd never be able to that if I couldn't make myself listen to what really happened to her.

A soft knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts and I took a couple more breaths trying to get myself under control.

"Rose, it's Jacob. Can I come in?" Jaocb's voice floated through the door.

I wanted to tell him no and to leave me alone. To say that I had dealt with worse on my own and that I didn't need his help or his advice. I could handle all of this on my own. Yet, there was a part of me who was five again and desperately wanted her daddy. He wasn't there back then and I hated him for it. Now, he was here and I couldn't turn him away.

I reached up and unlocked the door. I knew he'd hear the click and take that as an invitation. The door opened and he stepped in. He closed it behind him, then sat dow beside me. He flashed me a sad smile as he did so. I tried to smile back and failed miserably.

"I'm sorry, I can't give you the answers you're looking for yet." he said putting his arm around my shoulder. "But I do intend on giving them to you. It'll just be easier for all of us if you hear everything at once. There are parts that I can't tell you. Crucial parts. Please, understand that I'm trying to hurt or lie to you, anymore. I'm just trying to protect you from everything."

"I know." I answered on a sigh as I laid y head on his shoulder. "It's just a lot to deal with, especially when I'm not completely sure of everything I'm going to have to deal with."

"I get it. I do and I'm sorry it has to be like this." he answered. "You don't know how much I wish your mother would've stayed here. We could've worked something out and been a family, even if she wanted that family to include Edward."

"I would've liked that." I said. I loved my mother and the life she built for me, but it would've been nice to have a family, even if it was a crazy supernatural one.

"There are a lot of things that I can't tell you right now." Jacob said after a minute or two of silence. "But there is one thing that you need to know. You aren't going to like a lot about what hear in the next couple of hours. It's going to hurt a lot and probably make you very angry with your mother, but I want you to know that your mother was the bravest person that I knew.

"She was strong, smart, and always fought for what she believed in. She stood up for the ones she loved and would've done anything for them, including dying. She wouldn't give up when things got hard and she never ran away from anything. And I see those things, every time I look at you."

I felt the bursh creep up my cheeks and I looked down embarrassed. I had known my mom was all of those things, but Erick was the only person who ever told me that I was like her. It was weird hearing them come out of someone else's mouth, especially my father who I had just met.

"More importantly though, I know she loved you very much and would've given anything for you. I'm sure she's very proud of you. I know I am."

The blush came back as I fought a smile. I wasn't used to this kind of compliment.

"Thank you." I said to him. "I needed to hear that."

"I know." he told me and kissed the top of my head.

I swallowed hard and blinked tears out of my eyes trying to pull myself together again.

"Let's get back downstairs." I said after a minute. "The Cullens will be here any minute."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jacob asked.

"No, but I can't fall apart, not until I know the whole truth." I answered.

"I'll be there every step of the way."

"Thanks, dad." I surprised myself by saying. Jacob raised his eyebrows at me, but smiled as he stood up.

He held his hand out to me and I let him pull me up and we joined the others in the living room. Nobody had moved an inch since I left. I found myself wondering if I would ever be able to do that. Was it werewolf genes? Or just years of practice?

I took my spot back on the couch and tried very hard not to think to much about what was going to happen in the next few hours. Seth, of course, took my hand the minute I sat down. I sighed, but laid my head on his shoulder.

We sat in silence for awhile as I tried hard not to panic. Seth rubbed circles on my hand with him thumb and ocassionally kissed the top of my head. His presence alone was enough to keep me calm, but the other stuff helped a great deal as well.

I was just beginning to think that I could actually handle what was about to happen when a sickeningly sweet scent hint my nose. It burned all the way through my nose and to the back of my mouth. I pulled my head off Seth shoulder and my body went completely rigid. Anger was suddenly coursing through my veins as every instinct inside me shouted that this was my enemy and I needed to tranform to defend myself.

I fought the urger by reminding myself that the Cullens weren't my enemy. They were supposed to be my friends. Hell, in a better life, they'd probably be my family. I wasn't going to attack them. I couldn't attack them. I would hate myself forever if I did.

I noticed that all of the other wolves in the room had gonna just as rigid and were concentrating just as hard. I imagined it was a little easier for them, because of all the practice they had. It was nice to see that they still had to fight to control it as well.

"They're here, aren't they?" I had to shout over the sound of the blood pumping through my veins.

"Yes." Jacob said coming to stand in front of me again. He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm going to go greet them so we can discuss the best way to do this, so it's easier on you. I know you can do this, sweetie. You have every bit of your mother's strength and stubbornness. Just breathe and focus."

I nodded. I was afraid if I spoke it would reveal how terrified I was. Too be honest, it was a little more than being afraid of hurting the Cullens. What if they didn't like me? I was the reason she had left and hurt their family. What if they didn't want to have anything to do with me because of that?

Jacob got up and moved toward the entryway. I heard him open the door and could hear him speak to someone in whispers. I couldn't hear what they saying clearly, though. The blood was to loud in my ears. I took deep breath after deep breath reminding myself that I could really do this.

"It's okay." Seth whispered still clinging to my hand. "We'll be right here with you the whole time. We won't let you hurt anybody. I promise. Just relax and breathe. Everything will be okay."

His words meant little to me, but it was nice to hear that he was trying. I focused on taking deep breaths through my mouth- it made the smell a little easier to bear. I tried to force my body to relax a little at a time. It wasn't working very well, but what other choice did I have. I didn't want to kill people that my mother loved as much as she loved them.

"Um, Erick, maybe you and I should go stand over by Jared." Leah suggested.

"No way." Erick said. "If this is going to be hard for her, then I want to be right here next to her as well. She's my sister and I'm the only one she has left. I'm not going anywhere."

I swear I heard Seth growl at his words, but I couldn't be positive I was too panicked. Erick's refusal to move scared me. He was the most vulnerable person in the room. The only one who wouldn't be able to fight back if I phased. I couldn't let him stay this close to me.

"Leah's right, Erick." I said slowly and carefully, still trying to focus on not phasing. "I'm extremely unpredictable right now and could go werewolf any minute. I don't want to hurt anyone, but you especially and you're the only one who can't fight me. So please, just go stand by Jared. I know you'll be hear for me if I need you."

He sat there and debated for another second or so, before he nodded and followed Leah across the room. They stood against the wall beside Jared. The room seemed to be getting really crowded and I wondered if it was a good idea that we were all trying to cram into this itty-bitty space. Surely, it was just asking for trouble.

A shiver ran down my spine as I thought of how wrong this could go.

"It's okay." Seth whispered. "We all have a lot of practice. Just breathe and think about how nice it'll be to finally know both your families."

Jacob walked back in the room then and sudden calm hit my body. Sure, every instinct in my body was still screaming at me to phase, but the anger was gone and without the anger I couldn't do anything. I took one last deep breath and allowed my body to relax. I had no idea where this feeling was coming from, but I accepted it with open arms.

"Rosemarie, we've decided that it would be best for you to meet the others one at a time." Jacob said calmly. "It will make it a little less intense. And we're going to start with someone who has the power to control your emotions. He's going to be as much as help the others in keeping you calm."

Jacob spent out of the way to reveal a tall and muscular blonde. He was pale white and had dark circles under his butterscotch eyes just like Edward. He looked like a brooding movie star, even with his mouth set into the hard line that it was. I recognized him from his picture in the Forks High School year book.

He walked over to me slowly, still sending waves of calm through me. They were helping a great deal with keeping me from phasing, but not so much with my fear. What if they didn't like me?

"I'm Jasper." He said holding his hand out to me. "I suppose you could call consider me your uncle of sorts."

"It's nice to meet you, Jasper." I said taking his hand. The coldness burned againts my 108* skin. "I'm Rosemarie."

"It's nie to meet you too, Rosemarie." He dropped my hand but stared at me for a long moment. I could see there was a deep sadness behind his eyes as he stare and wondered if it had anything to do with my mother. "You look just like your mother."

"Thank you." I said with a blush. He nodded and went to stand against the wall as far from me as possible. That worried me a little. Did it mean that he didn't like me? Or that he thought what happened to mom was somehow my fault.

"Relax." he said calmly sending more calming waves toward me. "I'm just trying to give you some space."

I nodded and noticed that Jacob was back in the room. I took a deep breath ready to meet my next vampire. Jacob stepped out of the way to reveal a short and very petite girl with short hair. For some reason, the word pixie came to mind when I looked at her. She hadn't changed from her picture in the yearbook though.

There was a wind grin on her face as she practically danced over to me. I could see, like with Jasper, there was something hiding under that smile. I tried not to think too much about what it might be.

"I'm Alice." she said swooping down to give me a hug.

I should've been surprised and a little scared, but hearing her voice had brought back a long forgotten memory. I was momentarily distracted enough to put my arms around her too without even thinking about it.

"I know you." I whispered as we pulled apart. "I mean I don't know you, but I know my mom used to talk to you all the time. I used to listen to your conversations when I was a too young to understand."

Alice smiled and shook her head.

"I'm not surprised." she answered. "But, yes, Rosemarie, your mom and I used to talk all the time. I'm the only one here who knew about you. She talked about you like you were her little angel."

"She told me that everyday." I nodded.

"Good, because it was the truth." She smiled at me, patted my shoulder and moved to stand beside Jasper.

Jacob was followed by the most exquisite blonde I had every seen in my life. Any girl who was in the same room with her would've taken an instant hit to their ego. I know mine did and it wasn't very big to begin with either.

She came to stand in front of me and said,

"I'm Rosalie."

She didn't offer me her hand or reach down to hug me like Alice did. There was a sad and distant look in her eyes as she stared at me and I didn't know what to do next. I was scared to even open my mouth. She didn't seem to need a response, though. She just continued walking. I let out a breath that I hadn't known I was holding.

Jacob didn't even get back into the living room with the next one before a white blur streaked across the living room and I was suddenly lifted of the couch. I was pulled into a bone crushing hug and spun around the room several times. I couldn't help, but squeal, whether it was from fear or excitment, I didn't know.

When I was placed back on the couch, though, I had a smile on my face. That must have meant that I enjoyed myself. I found myself staring up at a curly haired brunette guy. He was tall and made Jasper look scrawny.

"I'm Emmett." The guy said. "And I'm so glad to finally meet you. Alice has been telling us everything about you for the last three days."

I wasn't sure how I felt about a complete stranger informing others about me, so I just blushed again and held out my hand.

"Well, I'm Rosemarie and it's nice to finally meet you as well."

Emmett shook my hand laughing at something that I had done.

Jacob brought in two people next. A man and a woman. I recognized the man as Dr. Carlisle Cullen from the many pictures we found of him on the internet. I didn't recognize the woman with caramel colored hair though. Judging from the kind smile on her face and the motherly look in her eyes, she was Esme. Carlisle's wife and "mother" to the other vampires.

"Hello, Rosemarie." Carlisle said. "I'm Carlisle and this is my wife, Esme."

The both came to stand in front of me and I shook each of their hands individually. I wondered if I could consider them my grandparents, or if that would be too awkward for all of us.

"It's nice to meet both of you." I responded.

Neither said anything after that, but sensed the same sadness coming from both of them that I had from the others. It scared me a little, because I had a feeling that it was my fault. I didn't have to much time to ponder things, because Jacob came back into the room with the one person I had been most worried about.

I wondered if they had saved him for last on purpose. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, though. The knot that had been loosening since Jasper's appearance in the living room suddenly twisted tighter than ever and I bacame extremely nauseated.

I had been anticipating this moment since I saw their wedding photo. I just couldn't decide if it was nervous anticipation or fearful anticipation. I was indirectly responsible for my mother leaving him and I didn't know how he would feel about that.

Somehow, his approval meant just as much to me as Jaocb's had. I just wasn't sure that I would get it. Jacob stepped out of the way to reveal the beautiful bronze haired Edward Cullen. I suddenly felt the rush of my blood pumping through my eyes again. This time is had nothing to do with wanting to phase. I was scared shitless of what his reaction would be.

It had been years since the photo on the mantel had been taken, but Edward hadn't changed at all. He looked just like he did in the picture with one big exception. His eyes. They had been so full of life and happiness when his arms were around my mother on their wedding day. Now, they were aboslutely dead and empty.

I felt a stab of guilt in my heart as I realized it was probably my mother leaving that took the life out of them. Finding out about her death probably hadn't done much to help, but I had no doubt that her leaving was the main cause for the death of his happiness. And my mother's leaving was essentially my fault. I had no doubt he would hate me for it.

"It was hardly your fault." He said never taking those sad eyes off me.

His words confused and startled me so I looked back at him with a furrowed brow.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Your mother's decision to leave was hardly your fault." he said simply. "Bella made some mistakes and interesting choices so it's her fault. You were just the beautiful outcome of those choices. I could never hate you for that."

His words made me feel better, but also confused me. How could he know that I needed to hear those words? How could he know that I had been blaming myself for all of this?

"I can read your mind." Edward said with a half smile. It didn't reach his eyes, but at least he was trying. "Which is interesting, because I could never read your mother's."

I could see the pain in his eyes as he spoke of her and I wanted to comfort him. I couldn't imagine how hard all of this was for him and wanted to let him know that I understood. I got up, releasing Seth's hand, and walked slowly over to him. I took a deep breath before putting my arms around him.

"I'm sorry she left you." I whispered to him.

"Just stop blaming yourself, okay?" He whispered back. I didn't say anything in response as we pulled apart. He smiled at me and I couldn't help back smile back. "You're as beautiful as your mother." He said running his hand along my cheek. I blushed and looked down at the floor.

"Thank you." I whispered. He chuckled at my embarassment.

"Well, now that we all know each other, I heard you were looking for some answer." he said once I recovered from my embarrassment.

"Then we shall do our best to give them to you."

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? Once again, I'm sorry it took so long. Please review. **


	21. Breathe In, Breathe Out

**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry it has been so long since my last update. I have not abandoned this story. I have just gotten caught up in working on my own novels. I'm getting a little blocked on those, so I am going to take a bit of a break and give you guys something that you have probably been waiting awhile for.**

**ROSEMARIE**

"Let me get this straight." I said an hour later as I tried to make sense of everything the Cullens had just told me. "My mother knew these Volturi were going to come after her and, most likely, kill her if she didn't become a vampire, but she left anyway. Why?"

Edward, who had been staring at the now cracked wedding picture on the mantle, sighed and turned to look at me. I didn't think it was possible, but his eyes had lost a little more life.

"Your mother had a big problem with guilt." Edward answered. "It killed her to know that she could never truly choose between your father and me. She may have married me and convinced herself that she loved me more, but she could never truly let Jacob go. It drove her crazy with guilt."

Edward turned back to the picture as if this was a good enough answer to my question. I still didn't completely understand, but I didn't want to push him. Reliving all of this for my benefit had to be hard enough for him. I didn't want to make it any worse.

Instead, I looked to Jacob who was sitting on the coffee table in front of me. He and Seth had been doing their best to get me through this conversation without doing anything I'd regret. Jacob smiled and laid a gentle hand on my knee.

"After we slept together, Bella felt that she was beyond forgiveness. She felt the need to punish herself by removing herself from our lives. She didn't think it was right to play with our hearts like that. I don't think she thought about the Volturi until after the decision had been made. And if she did, she would've decided she deserved it."

"Nobody deserves to die like that." I said shaking my head as tears fell down my cheeks. I had spent the last month trying to imagine what my mom had been thinking in those final moments. Did it hurt? Or had she already passed out from the smoke before she burned? Now other thoughts and imagines invaded my mind. Had the Volturi stopped her from escaping? "She made a mistake. It was a big one, yes. But it was just a mistake. She didn't deserve to die for it."

My body started to tremble as thoughts of my mother condemning herself for this ran through my mind. Why would she think that she deserved to go down like that? She was a good person who loved two people there was nothing wrong with that.

"Breathe, love, breathe." Seth whispered shaking my hand. "We agree that she didn't deserve to die like that. She may have thought she deserved a fate worse than death, but we never believed that."

"Not for a minute." Jacob said gently.

"But it was what she got." Edward whispered. His words stopped my heart in my chest.

"What do you mean? Did they make her suffer before they killed her?"

Thoughts of my mother being beaten and tortured by those four scary strangers made my angry again. My body trembled as the beast crept slowly forward.

"Maybe we should wait to tell her the rest, Edward." Jasper said. "You know, until she is a little more stable."

"Wait to tell me what?" I asked.

Edward turned to look at Jacob and they had a sort of silent argument. My body continued to tremble as anger coursed through me. I couldn't believe they were arguing about whether or not they were going to tell me the whole truth. She was my mother. Damn it! I had a right to know.

"Rosie, relax. We are all going to help you through this. Just breathe, please." Seth whispered.

"I'm trying." I said through gritted teeth. "It's really hard when you don't know the whole story."

"I know, love."

"And you're going to get it, soon. There's just a lot that we aren't sure how to tell you." Alice spoke for the first time. Her voice sounded sad, almost pleading. I found myself wondering once again if I should've just left all this alone.

"Don't ever think that." Edward spoke finally turning his attention from Jacob. "There is nothing worse than not knowing. Believe me. I've spent nearly two decades not knowing."

I didn't know how to respond to that. He was right. There was nothing worse than not knowing everything, but I was terribly afraid of what it would mean to know everything. What had happened to my mom before she died? How much had she suffered? I didn't think I want to know.

Erick, who didn't need Edward's gift to know what I was thinking, walked over to me. He knelt in front of me, taking my free hand in his.

"What I said on the drive here still stands, Rosie." He said looking me directly in the eye. "If you want to leave and forget all of this just say the word and we're gone. I won't make you hear anything you don't want to hear."

Seth let out a deep almost feral growl from beside me. Leah responded with one of her own and was beside Erick faster than an average human could've been. This whole imprint thing was a little too intense for words.

"Seth, Leah, knock it off!" Sam snapped. "This isn't the time to see who the bigger wolf is."

I squeezed Seth hand and felt him take a deep breath. Leah relaxed a little but placed her hands on Erick's shoulder. We were going to have to figure out a way to keep my friendship with Erick from getting in the way of our imprints, but that was something to think about later.

"Thanks, Erick. As nice as that would be, I can't go back now. I've come too far and I know too much. I don't want to end up the way my mother did.

"We wouldn't let that happen?" Edward said moving to sit beside Jacob on the coffee table. "I failed Bella in so many ways, but I will not let the Volturi hurt you, ever. None of us would."

I nodded.

"But it still doesn't change the fact that I am in way too deep right now. I know too much and I wanna know the rest. I'm just scared."

"You have reason to be." Jasper said in a calm, almost cold tone. I got the feeling he wasn't one to sugar coat things. I wasn't sure if that was comforting or not.

I swallowed hard.

"And I wanna know why."

"Then we should go outside and finish this." Jacob said in barely above a whisper. We weren't in wolf form, so I had no idea what he was thinking, but it didn't sound good. He sounded so sad it scared me even more. "You might need the space."

I didn't like the sound of this at all if he thought I was going to need space , it meant he thought I'd get angry enough to phase. My fear increased as we headed toward the backyard. The vampires hung back letting us werewolves go first.

"You're going to get through this." Seth whispered. "We are going to help you." I nodded and tried to keep my shape from blurring as my fear danced close to the edge of anger. Would it always feel like this? Would every emotion feel so close to rage that it'd be hard to tell the difference?

I did feel a little better once I was outside, though. The fresh, non-vampire-polluted air was very calming. I sucked in glorious breath after glorious breath as my trembles slowly began to calm.

The tension seemed to lift a great deal once we were out in the open. You could still cut it with a knife, of course. But there was something about being spread out that made this encounter a little easier. I noticed my "guard" had increased a little as a few more of my "uncles" joined us. I could even hear some growls from the surrounding trees. This must be bad.

I squeezed Seth's hand as Leah led Erick to the other side of the yard.

"Okay, just tell me what happened before she died." I growled. "All these extra precautions are driving me crazy."

"That's the thing." Edward said slowly. He and Jacob were standing a few feet in front of Seth and I. They were as close to each other as their instincts would allow. "She never died."

Everything fell away at those words. Nothing I had heard or experienced in the last few days had been as important as the words Edward just spoke. My mother was still alive. Hope sprang in my heart than had been so full of despair since the night I went home to find my house in ashes. I might actually see her again.

Edward shook his head.

"Don't do that, Rosemarie." He said.

"Do what?"

"Get your hopes up until you've heard it all."

"But she's alive. Doesn't that mean she can be saved?"

"It's not that simple, anymore. And to be completely honest, it'd be better for you if she was actually dead."

"I don't understand."

The more we talked about this the more my head spun. It was the worst kind of emotional roller coaster. The beast linger just above the surface waiting for its chance to break free wasn't helping matters.

"Your mother was taken to be a human pet to the Volturi." Jasper said in a cold monotone.

My feet disappeared beneath me at his words, and I hit the ground as my lunch reappeared in the mud. I had read enough vampire novels to know what a vampire's human pet was. I had even read an entire series about a complete vampire takeover. They had enslaved the human race turning them all into their pets. The things they did to our race were unthinkable. To realize they had been happening to my mother was more than I could take.

I was vaguely aware of hands pulling my hair back and rubbing my back as I fought to control the contents of my stomach. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks mixing with the disgusting pile of vomit on the ground.

"Jeez, Jasper, could you have been any less sensitive?" Edward's voice snapped from far off.

"How was I supposed to know that she'd know what it meant?" Jasper replied. I felt waves of calm and peace flow through me, though.

"It's alright." I panted. "I just read a lot of vampire books. I guess I should've known if the good parts of those worlds existed then the bad parts would as well."

"There's good and evil in all species." Carlisle said. "Our evil is just a lot worse than yours."

"But why didn't they just kill her?" I asked accepting Jacob's help to stand. "If that's what they do to humans who know the secret. Why was she any different?"

"It's a long story." Carlisle said. "But it has a lot to do with Aro's feelings towards our family. We have things he's coveted for years, but we always refused to give him. I supposed he chose to take it out on Bella by completely destroying her."

"And she let him, so he wouldn't come after me." I whispered as things started making more sense. "Those last two weeks, she kept reminding me that everything she did was to keep me safe, even if it hurt me. I always knew that, so I could understand why she felt she had to keep saying it. Now, I understand. The four that Aro sent made it clear that I'd be hurt if she didn't do what he wanted."

"You were her angel. Her only light in the dark after she left Forks. She wasn't about to let him hurt you. No matter what it meant for herself." Alice said. Her voice broke several times during the speech.

I stood in Seth's embrace letting everything sink into to my already fucked up brain. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I felt myself trembling but, for the first time since the vampire's entered my grandfather's house, I wasn't on the verge of transforming. I was too numb for that.

Of all the things I worried I'd discover when I came to Forks, none of this even came close. I came expecting the worst, and what I found was a million times worse than that. The vampire and werewolf thing wasn't so bad. I had always believed in their existence in an I-know-they-are-out-there sort of way. I never expected that I was one of them or that I'd be thrown into their world so deeply, but it didn't bother me much. The story about what really happened to my mother is what rocked me. It was worse than if she had just been dead. Much worse.

**JACOB**

Bella leaving Forks was the lowest point in my life. When she walked away, she took my heart with her, and I felt as if the world was crashing around me. I didn't think there was a worse pain than being abandoned by the woman who would never love you as much as you loved her, until I had to watch my daughter suffer through the cold hard truth.

I fought back tears as I rubbed her back while she vomited on the muddy forest ground. I wished I could comfort her as she came to terms with everything, but I didn't know what to say or do. I didn't have any practice with this father thing, but it killed me to see her suffering through it all.

She huddled closer to Seth as Alice confirmed what Rosemarie feared: Bella chose to save her daughter by becoming a vampire's pet. I could only imagine the things that were running through her mind. If she was anything like her mother, she would be laying the blame for all of it on herself.

I wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault, and that everything would be okay, but I couldn't. It wouldn't do any good. Besides, I couldn't promise that it would be okay, not until I could promise Bella's safe return. And I wasn't even sure I could do that. It killed me to know that I couldn't give her the thing she needed most.

I reached out a hand to give her the only comfort I could. She took it, but remained cuddled close to Seth. The imprint made her want his comfort more than mine, and I completely understood. I was just glad she didn't completely neglect me.

Erick was across the yard trying to get passed Leah, Paul, and Jared. It was hard for me to watch Rosemarie going through this, but I couldn't even imagine what Erick must be going through. He had probably been there for her through everything and helped her solve all her problems. It had to have been difficult for him to see this and not be able to do anything about it.

"It's okay, Leah." I said. "Let him come over. Rose needs him, and there are enough of us to protect him if he needs it."

Leah sighed, but stepped out of the way. Erick practically ran to Rosemarie and wrapped his arms around her. He actually pulled her out of Seth's arms. Naturally, she held Erick back and hysteria finally broke through. I suppose there were some bonds that not even an imprint could come. Seth seemed to understand this and backed off.

"Shhh." Erick whispered stroking her hair. "It's going to be okay. Somehow, some way, I'll make it okay."

The words sounded like a mantra that he had repeated often. Like something a big brother would say to his distraught sister. I wondered just how much they had been through together.

"How?" Rosemarie cried into his shoulder.

"I don't know, but I'll think of something." Erick told her. "We'll think of something."

"It's not that easy." Edward growled. "We may be supernatural creatures, Erick, but this isn't a fairytale. We can't just wave a wand and make everything okay. There's so much that you don't know about the Volturi and what they are capable of."

"There has to be something we can do." Erick snapped.

"If there was don't you think I would've done it by now?" Edward said. "I love Bella Swan more than your tiny human brain could ever comprehend. If I could save her, it would have been done by now."

"If you love her so much then why are you giving up?"

Before I could even process Erick's words, Rosemarie was in my arms and Edward had Erick pinned to a tree with a hand around his throat. His "fangs" were out, and he was growling low and deep. Jasper and Emmett were trying to pry him off of Erick while Carlisle whispered things to him so quickly that I missed them.

Leah was vibrating like a tuning fork. The only thing holding her in her human form was fear of hurting Erick more by trying to save him. Rosemarie had quickly processed the situation and immediately tried to crawl out of my arms. I held her tighter. I wasn't going to let her throw herself into the middle of a fight with vampires. She was untrained and could get herself killed. It was best to let the family handle this.

"Never question my feelings for that woman." Edward growled. "She is my world, and I would die for her, if I thought that was enough to save her."

Edward threw Erick to the ground, ripped himself from Jasper and Emmett, and ran for the house.

Leah and Rosemarie were at Erick's side in an instant.

"I'm alright guys." Erick told them as he massaged his throat. "I might be a little bruised in the morning, but I'll survive."

"Please forgive my son." Carlisle said holding his hand out to Erick. "He feels terribly helpless right now. He doesn't like being reminded that there isn't much he can do."

Erick nodded and accepted Carlisle's hand.

Seth reclaimed Rosemarie's waist while Leah inspected Erick for any wounds.

"So there's really nothing we can do, at this point?" I asked unable to believe the situation was truly hopeless.

"Not necessarily." Carlisle said calmly. "It's just going to take a lot of planning."

"Who needs planning?" Seth asked. "Why can't we just storm Volterra, kick some Volturi ass, and take her back?"

"We would last two seconds in a fight with the Volturi, dog." Rosalie sneered. "And even if, by some miracle, we did win, it wouldn't matter. Bella isn't going to come with us willingly anymore. Hell, she'd probably try to kill us if we tried to take her away."

"Rosalie." Esme admonished. "We discussed this."

"Bella's her mother, Esme." Rosalie growled. "She has a right to know, no matter what the mutt says."

"I have a right to know what?" Rose asked pulling away from Seth.

Carlisle sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry, Jacob." He said to me. "We had plans to discuss this with you before we told Rosemarie."

"Just tell us the rest." I said taking deep even breaths.

"Aro made Bella forget everything about herself, including her time in Forks, and then he changed her." Carlisle explained. "And turned her against us."

"What exactly does that mean?" Rosemarie asked in a quivering voice.

"The Bella we knew and loved is gone, and I don't know if we will be able to bring her back."

**A/N: What do you guys think? Was it worth waiting for? It took me awhile to get it exactly the way I wanted it, but I really like it. I'm about to start wrapping it up, though. I've got a plan for the end. Let me know what you guys think. **


	22. Trouble

**A/N: I've found a solution to my problem and I am super excited about it. I'd like to thank ****reamane21**** offering up a suggestion. Even though I won't be using it, she helped me come up with the plan that I have decided to use. To avoid confusion, I want to let you know that I will be skipping ahead in time a bit. Don't worry, I will flashback to let you know how we got to this point. Hope you enjoy! **

**ROSEMARIE  
**

"Hey parasites!" I yelled as I stomped my way through the forest behind my grandfather's old house. I was far enough away now that Seth and Leah wouldn't hear me. I couldn't believe Jacob thought making the two of them stay at the house would be enough to stop me. If they had been awake, I would've been in trouble but, asleep, escaping the house was a piece of cake. Now, if only I could find the worthless leeches that had been tailing me since my mother died. "I know you're out there, and I know you've been following me since I left Florida. So why don't you come out so we can have a little chat."

I froze for a moment paying close attention to everything going on around me. I hadn't been with Jacob long enough to truly learn how to hunt and kill vampires, but I was slowly learning most of being a werewolf was about following your instincts and your senses. I was prepared to sniff them out if they refused to make their presence known to me. It was simply a matter of listening to everything around me and catching their scent.

I closed my eyes and listened carefully. There were no sounds that led me to believe that they were going to come out and face me. I took a sniff and caught a faint whiff of vampire to the East. I set off in the direction.

"I can just sniff you out, you know." I yelled louder than before. "And the longer it takes me to do it means more time for my family to discover I'm gone and come looking for me. I just wanna talk, but they won't be so generous."

"And what exactly does a little bitch like you have to say to us?" A male voice came from directly behind me. I jumped a foot turning in midair.

I took a deep breath as I stared at the vampire who had literally appeared out of nowhere. He towered over me by at least a foot and a half and had eyes so dark red they would've appeared black to human eyes. His hair was jet black and fell to his shoulder in stringy bits, and the smirk on his face as enough to scare the shit of even the bravest of souls. I refused to allow him to see how much he scared me. This could be my only chance to save my mother. I had to do it, no matter what it took.

"I wish to meet with Aro." I said fighting to keep the tremble out of my voice. It wasn't as easy to be brave when you were face to face with the monsters. "And I want you to take me to him, tonight."

The vampire through his head back and had the nerve to burst into laugh.

"You can't be serious." He said once he finished. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? You're a young, untrained, uncontrolled werewolf and you want me to take you to my leader. I don't fucking think so."

"I thought you might say that, so this young, untrained, uncontrolled werewolf is going to take her butt to the center of town and show the good people of Forks, Washington the kind of monsters they are living with."

"Be my guest. You'd only be exposing your kind, not mine." He responded.

"But how long after the find out about werewolves do you think it will be before they start looking for vampires. It's safer to keep both species a secret. Don't you think?"

"I could just kill you and save us both the trouble." He smirked.

"No you can't. Aro still needs me." I didn't know if that was the truth but from everything I heard it was accurate. The minute he turned Bella against the Cullens, he lost the only leverage he had. If I was still in the picture, he could use me and the Cullens would be like putty in his hands. They'd do anything to protect me for Bella. "And you wouldn't risk incurring Aro's wrath, would you?"

My words wiped the smirk right off the leech's face. Apparently, Aro really need me.

"Henry, I have to make a call. Will you please keep an eye on my little friend here? Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid, please?"

"Of course, Julian." A second vampire, slightly shorter than me with short, curly red hair, stepped out of the trees. Maybe I really did need to work on my hunting skills. That was twice tonight that I was caught off guard by my enemies. I needed to get it together for my mother's sake.

Henry reached out to grab my arm, but I jerked away.

"I'm the one who called this meeting." I snapped crossing my arms over my chest. "I'm not going anywhere." I also wasn't sure how much longer I could hold on to my control; allowing him to touch me would only make it harder. I wasn't going to tell him that, though. I couldn't let them see that I was vulnerable. They were already playing into to my hand. I had to get into Volterra before I could let loose.

"Fine." Henry held his arms in the air. "But you make one move, and I will make sure it is your last, wolf."

It wasn't worth my energy to call his bluff, especially since I wasn't going anywhere anyway. I sank to the ground and pulled my knees up to my chest. I didn't allow myself to think about what was going to happen in the next few hours. Instead, I thought of Seth and how wonderful the little time we had together had been. All the while ignoring the little voice in the back of my mind that kept wondering if I made the right decision.

**FLASHBACK – ROSEMARIE**

"_So what you're telling me is that my own mother doesn't even know who I am?" I asked as Carlisle's words slowly sunk in. _

"_Yes." Carlisle replied. His expression told me the words hurt him as much as they hurt me. "At least she doesn't remember who you are?" _

"_What's the difference?" I asked. _

"_Because there is a small chance that she can recover her memories." Carlisle explained. "Aro didn't remove her knowledge of you, just the memory of you, of all of us. It is possible for us to make her remember with the right kind of trigger." _

"_What do you mean "trigger"?" I asked settling back into the couch. _

_We had decided to move back into the house after the hardest bit of news had been revealed. Carlisle had asked his family, save Jasper to give me a little space while we discussed the rest and my guard had been dropped by three. Seth, Jacob, Leah and Erick had joined us inside, of course. All of them had surrounded me comforting me the best they could. _

_My mind was still reeling from everything that I had been told, but I had to hear the rest. I wouldn't be able to sleep until I knew everything, especially if there was any chance of saving her. _

"_Most memories have certain triggers." Carlisle explained. "Names, faces, sights, sounds, touches. They all, in some form or another can bring back even the most repressed memories we have. If we could figure out a way to trigger Bella's memories then we might have a chance of bringing her back." _

_I wondered why he was telling me this. Surely he knew I would figure out that I was the biggest trigger for Bella's memory. There was no bond stronger than that of a mother and her child. Surely he wasn't trying to tell me to…_

"_Rosemarie Elizabeth Swan, stop thinking what you are thinking right now." I jumped a foot at Edward's voice. He and Esme had gone for a walk to calm Edward after his attack on Erick. I had been so caught up in Carlisle's story, I hadn't heard them return. "We will not send you to the Volturi like a lamb to be slaughtered."_

"_Why not?" I asked. "If I'm the best hope we have of getting her back, then why can't I do this?" _

"_Because the Volturi are not the fair and just governing body they claim to be. They are vicious and cruel. If your presence was indeed enough to bring Bella's memories back, they'd probably make you watch as they killed her, then take you as their new pet."_

"_I don't care." I snapped. "She gave up everything for me. She walked away from the two men she loved most in the world and turned herself over to those monsters for me. If it wasn't for me, she'd be here in Forks and happy. She'd be a vampire and safe. Not in the hands of monsters with no memory of her life before that." _

"_She didn't leave because of you." Edward argued. _

"_No, but she refused to return because of me. She sacrificed her whole life so I could have one. The least I can do is to try to make that right." _

"_By getting yourself killed? Or worse?" Jacob injected. "God knows, I hate the bloodsucker, but I'm on his side with this. You aren't going anywhere near Volterra or Aro. We will find another way." _

"_There is no other way Jacob." I snapped. "I am the strongest trigger we have." _

"_Rosemarie, I was only trying to explain things to you." Carlisle said calmly. "I didn't want you to go on a suicide mission to save her. It might not even be possible. Even if we did help her to remember, Aro doesn't have to let her go free. She still broke the law. They have a right to continue to punish her even if she is a vampire now." _

"_So we offer…" _

"_Don't even go there, Rosemarie." Edward growled. "Do you really think that your mother would rather be free with you in the hands of those monsters, because I know for a fact that she wouldn't be. She'd probably kill all of us if she found out we let you. Besides, I failed to protect Bella when she needed it the most, I am not going to make the same mistake with you, so you can just forget it." _

"_You're not my father, Edward." I growled. "You don't get to tell me what to do." _

"_No, but I am." Jacob said. "And I say it isn't going to happen." _

"_You don't get to play the father card in this." I said rising from the couch. "You've been in my life for maybe a week. You have no right to say I can't go. My mother has been there for me my entire life. She's the only one who has a say in what I can and can't do. And seeing as she isn't here, I get to make this decision. No one else." _

"_What about me, Rosie?" Erick asked moving from his spot on the arm of the chair. Leah reluctantly let go of his hand. "I've known you your entire life and I've been there through everything. I helped you through your mother's death and helped you find Jacob. Do I get a say?" _

"_Not in this, Erick." I shook my head. "I'm sorry. She's my mother and I would do anything for her, even if it meant sacrificing my own freedom." _

"_You can say it all you want, Rose." Seth said moving to stand beside Jacob and Edward. "It isn't going to happen. We won't let you do it." _

"_If you just stop saying no and listen to my plan, you'll change your minds." I pleaded. I didn't really have any more of a plan, but they didn't need to know that. I was an expert at winging it anyway. _

"_Even if you had more of a plan," Edward said. I was tempted to flip him off—stupid mind reading vampire—but I remained respectful as my mother had always taught me. "We wouldn't listen because it would still involve you putting yourself in danger, and we aren't going to let you do that."_

_I opened my mouth to tell them that they couldn't stop me but stopped myself. Jacob, Edward, and their families were probably the only creatures on the planet capable of stopping me from doing this. I just needed to come up with a better argument. _

"_No argument is going to change our minds about this, Rosemarie." Edward sighed. "You aren't putting yourself in that kind of danger and that's that." _

"_You might not have a choice." I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at them. The argument I was about to make was a long shot, and I had to be sure they believed it, even if I wasn't completely positive I was right._

"_If you really want to say what you're thinking, go ahead." Edward shrugged. "It won't change my opinion and I doubt it will do anything for your father's." _

_I glared at Edward but appealed to Jacob. _

"_We're assuming that Aro convince my mother to go to him willingly by threatening me. If that's true, he's probably had people on me from the beginning. Vampires ready to move in for the kill the minute my mother disobeyed. They are probably still out there, watching and waiting." _

"_Then we will find them and destroy them." Jacob said simply. "I won't let anyone hurt, Rosemarie. You have to understand that." _

_I growled and pulled at the hair that was falling around my shoulder. _

"_If it saves my mother, I don't give a damn what happens to me. Why don't you two get that?" _

"_We do, honey, we do." Jacob said walking over and putting his arms around me. I pulled away from him and shook my head. "But your mother wouldn't want that and neither do we."_

"_You lost the right to act like you know what my mother would want when you let her leave Forks." I spat at them before going up the stairs and locking myself in my mother's old room. _

**END FLASHBACK ~ ROSEMARIE**

I listened to my ipod and did nothing but think about my mother until I was sure Edward was gone. I was going to find a way to get to Volterra, and I didn't need Edward ruining things for me. I imagined I was going to have a guard for the night, but I had gotten good at sneaking out over the last few years. I figured it be slightly more complicated to get out of Grandpa Charlie's house than it was to get out of my house, but where there was a window, there was a way.

I was surprised to find that Jacob only left Seth, Leah, and Erick to make sure that I didn't go anywhere with an escort. And all three were stupid enough to respect my request for alone time. It was too easy to climb out the big window and down the tree next to our house.

I could only pray my families would come for me when they discovered I was gone. If they didn't, I was screwed.

**BELLA**

"So you're telling me that I have the ability to block other vampire's abilities?" I asked. After everything I had hear in the last few days, I didn't know why this was so hard for me to believe, but I couldn't help it. The little bit that my mind could remember of human me was telling me I had never been special at all.

Yet, I was standing in the middle of a large underground courtyard with Aro, Caius, Marcus and Felix, and they were telling me I had this ability to defend myself from other vampire's.

"Yes." Aro answered. "Granted, it only blocks those powers that can affect your mind, so Felix should continue your hand-to-hand training. But developing and learning to expand your gift will be beneficial should Edward and his friends return for you."

"Yes, Master." I said. Felix had told me this was how Aro and his brothers preferred to be addressed, but something about the phrase always made my voice stuck in my throat. It didn't sound right, but I couldn't put a finger on why, so I just let it go. I was still scared of being chucked out for expressing my doubt of everything they had been telling me. Besides, they had done nothing but take care of me since I work up in this new life with no memories of my past. It'd be wrong for me to turn on them now.

"We are going going to help you…"

A shrill ringing sound cut off the end of Aro's sentence. He chuckled and patted down his robes.

"Stupid annoying little thing." He muttered as he found the correct pocket. Everything I had seen in the past few days was completely turned upside down when I saw the small telephone in he pulled out. Everything was so old-fashioned in this place, but Aro had a cell phone. That was a little odd.

"Julian what can I do for you?" The cheer in Aro's voice as he answered made me wonder exactly who Julian was. His name sent a small prick of fear into the pit of my stomach, but I didn't understand why.

"The girl came to us." My new hearing could make out the beautiful voice of the man on the other end of the phone. It was as if he were standing right next to me. "She wants to come and negotiate with you."

"That's quite the surprise." He raised an eyebrow at Damien, the most prized member of his guard. Damien shrugged looking a little frazzled. "There's nothing to negotiate, but we'd be more than happy to see her."

"There's one problem, sir." Julian said. "Our continued observation has led us to discover that her father is one of Cullens' little vampire killing wolf friends and she's inherited it from him."

"Then drug her, tie her up, and bring her to me." Aro said. "Jane will help her learn to control her impulses."

"Yes sir." Julian said. "We will be on the next flight."

"Excellent." Aro smiled. "I look forward to meeting her."

Aro flipped the phone shut and shoved it back in his pocket.

"Bella, m'dear, why don't you go back to your quarters and get some rest?" He said with a smile as bright as the sun. "I need to have a private word with Felix and the others."

I knew I should've just let it go and done what he asked of me, but something about that conversation didn't feel right to me. I felt like I needed to know who was coming and what they were coming to negotiate. I couldn't explain it, but it felt like the most important thing in my life.

"Who is she?" I asked before I could stop myself. "The girl who's coming. What does she want to negotiate? And what did Julian mean about "vampire killing wolves?"

Aro sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"She's a good friend of Edward's who we've been tracking since the day he kidnapped you." He answered. "We hoped that she would lead us to where he was keeping you and are still hoping that she will take us to him. I assume she wishes to negotiate a lesser punishment for Edward."

"And she's stupid enough to want to come here?" Jane asked with a small chuckle. "Does she not realize we'll ear her apart the way they tore Bella apart?"

"Well, Jane, she thinks her ability to turn into a "vampire killing wolf" will save her." Aro laughed. "And that, Bella, means exactly what it says. Edward and his coven are friends with a group of "werewolves" that kill any vampires who try to hurt the Cullens."

"So isn't it dangerous to bring her here?" I asked. The confusion I had been feeling wasn't enough to keep the fear of Edward Cullen at bay. "I mean what if he sent her to bring me back to him? What if she plans on killing all of you?"

"It's alright, love." Felix whispered putting his arms around me. "One wolf is no match for us. Jane would have this girl on her knees before she could even transform."

"All the same, I'm going to ask you two to go on a little trip while our guest is with us." Aro said. "At least, until we are sure that she can't hurt Bella anymore."

"Of course, sir." Felix said. "I've been wanting to get her reacquainted with Italy since she woke."

"Now, Bella, I've answered your questions, would you please let Darius escort you back to your quarters?" Aro addressed me. "I must discuss the best way to handle this situation with Felix and the others."

"Yes, Master." I replied and let Darius lead me from the courtyard.

Something still didn't feel right, though. Aro had explained everything about the situation, and it all made sense. Yet, I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something huge. Something so important, but I just couldn't get a grip on what it was.

**ROSEMARIE**

"Alright, mutt." Julian returned shoving a small cell phone back into the pocket of his black jeans. "Aro has accepted your request for a meeting with him and his brothers. There are just a few things we need to take care of first."

"And what, may I ask, are those things?" I said suddenly so terrified that I took a step back. I ran right into Henry who grabbed my shoulders. Did he know what Julian was going to do? Or was he just trying to keep me from running?

Either way, this wasn't good. I was cornered between two vampires and scared out of my mind. I wasn't controlled enough for a situation like this. My body was already converting my fear to anger. It wouldn't allow me to remain defenseless in this situation, but I couldn't afford to turn now. It would ruin everything.

Calm down, I told my body as the tremors rocked me. Everything depended on me holding on to human form as long as possible.

"Don't worry, dear." I heard Julian whisper through the pounding of blood in my ears. "This will help."

He pressed a damp cloth over my mouth, and I gladly breathe in the chemicals. I wasn't giving up, just doing what I needed to get my mother back. Slowly, the tremors stopped, my body relaxed, and my world faded to black.

**SETH**

It hurt a lot when Rosemarie refused to even talk to me after Edward, Jacob and the others left. I always assumed she'd want me know matter what the situation was. I was the one who could make her feel better. We both knew that, but every time I went to her room, she denied me entrance. It killed me every time, but the same instinct that drove me to want to be with her, forced me to respect her wishes. She didn't want to see me, then I wouldn't force myself on her, no matter how much it hurt.

I spent most of the night eating the food the Cullens paid to keep stocked in the fridge, and watching Doctor Who reruns while Erick and Leah were upstairs. Considering he was still jailbait, I hoped they were just sleeping.

As I watched, I couldn't help but notice the similarities between Amy Pond and Rosemarie. They both had a certain fire in them. A fire that allowed them to show bravery in the worst moments and made them willing to fight and die for the ones they loved.

I fell asleep as the Doctor was dragging Amy away from the dying Rory before they all got sucked into the crack in time. I wasn't sure how long I slept or even what I dreamed about when I woke up with this feeling of unadulterated fear in my stomach.

Something was horribly wrong, but not with me. Everything was calm and quiet in the house. I could hear Erick's and Leah's breathing from the floor above. Neither of them was in any danger. I released I couldn't hear Rosemarie's breathing at the same time it clicked that I was feeling her terror.

I shot up off the couch and ran up the stairs. I didn't even bother knocking as I shoved my way through the door. The bed was a mess with her ipod laying on the pillow. The window was opened and the curtains blowing in the window.

Jacob was so going to kill me.

**A/N: Nothing to say here, just that I hope you liked it. Please remember to review. **


	23. Try

**A/N: Sorry for the recent silence guys. I didn't forget about this story, I just started getting a million other cool ideas that I wanted to work on. I've developed a schedule that should help me work stuff. From now on, this story will be updated every other Wednesday. Anyway, on to the story, hope you all enjoy. **

**EDWARD**

"I still don't believe the two of you!" I raged at Jasper and Alice.

It had been nearly four hours since Jacob's phone call that Rosemarie had eluded her four guards and let herself get taken to the Volturi. My family, the wolves, and the human, Erick, were on a plan headed to Italy. The plan was to do what we had to do to get Rosemarie out. If we could save Bella, great, but Rosemarie was the priority. We had no idea what we were going to do, but we couldn't leave that poor girl to fend for herself.

"What were you thinking just letting her walk right by you?" I continued yelling. I could hear Jacob berating Erick, Seth, and Leah at the other end of the plane. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one beyond angry about this situation.

"I told you, Edward." Jasper growled. "This was something she should've been able to decide for herself. Bella is her mother and she wanted to do what she could to save her. I respect that decision. Besides, it gets us where we need to be. And if Rosemarie is in there with Bella, then she can work on Bella's memory."

"Yes, but at what expense, Jasper." I snapped. "Her innocence? Her life? Her virginity?"

"Those are sacrifices that she was willing to make to save her mother." Alice said. "She knows enough about the Volturi to know what she is getting herself into. She knows that she could die, but it doesn't matter. Just like those things never matter to Bella. Bella would've died for the people she loved."

"But we never let her get away with it!" I nearly screamed. "How could you guys let her daughter do something like that?"

"Edward," Carlisle said sharply. "That's enough. I can't say I agree with their decision, either, but it doesn't matter. What's done is done? No amount of yelling and berating is going to change it. We need to focus on the future right now and come up with a plan to get Rosemarie out before too much harm befalls her."

"He's right, Jake." Sam said from the back of the plane. "Yelling and screaming won't help your daughter now. A good, solid plan is the only thing that will do her any good."

Jacob took a deep breath looking like he was going to continue yelling and screaming at Erick, Leah, and Seth. All three had been sitting quietly in the last seat on the plan staring at their hands and hadn't once objected to the things Jacob had been saying. Seth and Erick had even been crying. I'd say they all felt bad enough without Jacob's lecture. I actually felt a little sorry for them.

"You guys are right." Jacob finally sighed. "It can't be undone, so let's find a way to save her and worry about the rest later."

"So what's the plan?" I asked Carlisle.

"I don't know." Carlisle sighed. "I doubt the direct approach will work again, considering we used it last time and it had absolutely no effect whatsoever."

"I might have something." Alice said with a smile. I immediately turned to her thoughts and took note of all the details. It was a good plan, but a risky one.

"It's good, but do you really think it will work?" I asked.

"It's honestly a fifty/fifty shot." Alice said. "There's a good chance Aro might just sentence us all to death just to keep of the façade."

"But that's why we have the wolves for back up." I denoted. "The Volturi won't even know they are with us."

"Unless Damon told them." Alice said.

"I don't think he can see them. I think he has the same limitation as you do." I told her. "I mean, he isn't a part human so he wouldn't be able to see them."

"You don't know that for sure."

"Maybe not, but this is probably the best plan we will come up with in such a short amount of time."

"Do you mind filling the rest of us in on the plan?" Jacob asked sarcastically. It wasn't until that moment I realized that Alice and I were doing it again. We weren't keeping the others up-to-date.

"It's your plan, sis." I said. "Care to explain."

"Well, Bella already believes it was Edward and the family who kidnapped and hurt her." Alice explained. "So we use turning ourselves in as a way to get to them. Bella will want to face her accusers at which point we can…"

**ROSEMARIE**

I came in and out of consciousness over the next few hours with only a few sensations to tell me details about the world around me. My captors were extremely skilled at keeping me drugged. In fact, I was never awake for more than a minute before the drug soaked rag was pressed to my face again. Each time, I inhaled the chemicals gratefully while praying that they didn't take advantage of me.

I wasn't sure how long this went on before I was allowed to return to full consciousness. Later, I could tell you it was the most terrifying experience of my life.

The first sensations told me that I was sitting in a chair. My arms and legs were restrained with heavy, uncomfortable chains. I was grateful to find that I was still fully clothed, but that gratitude faded the second my brain made sense of the sickening sweet scent that filled the air.

I was chained to a chair in a room full of vampires. The last of drugs faded as adrenaline started pumping through my veins. Again, I felt like an animal in a trap and immediately I began to struggle in the chains.

"Don't bother m'dear." A cold amused voice said from across the room. I snapped my head up to see a man with dark hair and red eyes standing in front of a chair several feet from me. "My kind would have a difficult time breaking those chains. I imagine it would be more difficult for a wolf like yourself to get out of them."

I smirked at him but did my best to keep my temper in check. "Maybe in human form, but if I were to transform, no amount of steel could hold me."

I barely got the words out before pain beyond anything I had ever felt in my life engulfed me. It felt like I was being stabbed over and over with a thousand knives. I couldn't help the screams that ripped through me as I struggled to get out of the chair and away from the pain.

It stopped just as suddenly as it started and my screams were replaced by the man's laughter.

"You're welcome to try transforming." A main with long snow white hair smirked. "But the second you do, Jane would have you on the floor whining like the little bitch I'm sure you are."

"Caius," The first man reprimanded. "She may be an enemy, but she is still our guest. There is no need to be rude."

"Last I heard, you didn't chain your guests to chairs and surround them with your army." I said. I stopped struggling and focused on keeping my human form. I didn't want Jane to do whatever she just did again, but I also needed to stay in human form so I could negotiate my mother's freedom.

"This isn't my army, m'dear." The dark haired man said. "They are my family and I am simply introducing them to you. As for the chains, they are simply a precaution. You are a young volatile werewolf. I don't want to risk you hurting a member of my family, or them hurting you. Neither of us wishes any harm on the other I'm sure."

"Of course not." I said not buying his friendly act for a moment. I had learned enough from the Cullens to know what sick, evil men the Volturi were. "I've only come here to talk."

"Then let's begin with introductions shall we." He said walking over to stand before me. "I'm Aro, and these are my brothers, Caius," He gestured to the white haired man on his left. "And Marcus." The other dark haired man on his right. "And this lovely young lady," He gestured to a blonde figure who was glaring at me with a sadistic smile. I paled a little as I recognized her as the leader of the four who came for my mother that day. "Is Jane, and that extremely painful sensation from earlier was her. She's here to make sure you behave. And you are?"

"My name is Rosemarie Swan." I said knowing he already knew that. I had learned enough from the Cullens not to rush Aro, though. He was a man who liked to do things his way, in his own time. I didn't want to jeopardize this by pissing him off.

"As in Isabella Swan's daughter?" He questioned with a smirk. I nodded. "How very interesting." He stepped closer to me and reached out as if to caress my face.

I knew enough about his powers to know that I didn't want him doing that. I didn't want him to see that I was here without any back up, unsure if someone would come to rescue me.

"Don't touch me." I snapped pulling away from him.

Aro chuckled. "I mean you no harm, Rosemarie. I simply wish to know a little more about how you came to be sitting in front of us. That's all."

"I could just tell you myself."

"Yes, you could, but I'd rather see it in your thoughts, because those don't lie."

Without another word his cold palm made contact with my face. I suppressed the growl that crawled up my throat at the contact. I couldn't struggle because I was concentrating so hard on not transforming. There was no escaping his touch anyway.

He held his palm against my cheek for a long moment with his eyes closed. A smirk spread across his face telling me that he was enjoying every bitty detail he was slowly absorbing.

"How brave of you," Aro said dropping his hand from my cheek. "To come here against the word of your father figures without knowing if they will come and rescue you if things go bad. I wouldn't worry, though. Carlisle is too noble to leave an innocent girl to fend for herself especially one he considers family."

The words struck me. Surely, the Cullens didn't consider me family already. We hadn't even known each other for twenty-four hours. I could see how they felt some kind of responsibility for me, but did I think they considered me one of them? Not at all. Was Aro just trying to get to me?

It didn't matter, though. As long as my mother got out of this, and she got the chance at happiness that my existence has denied her, I didn't want to be saved.

"You've seen my thoughts." I said. "So you know me walking away from this is the furthest thing from my mind."

"Yes, I've seen that, and that's what I love about you humans." He chuckled. "Especially you Swan women. You would do anything for the people you love, even if it means death or worse for yourself. It's why your mother is in the position she's in now."

"And that's exactly why I'm here. I want to take her place in the agreement she made with you."

Aro full out laughed this time. He found so much amusement in my words that I thought for a moment he was going to fall to the floor and start rolling around. The others joined in his laughter, and I had to fight to keep myself under control. What did they find so amusing about my request?

"Come now, Rosemarie." Aro said when he finally got his laughing under control. "I've seen your thoughts and know you've talked to the Cullens. You are fully aware of Bella's current state and how the agreement we originally made is now void. She is now willingly mine to control. A complete blank slate and I'm not going to give that up."

"So let's make another agreement." I said without pause. I wasn't sure where I got it from, but I was really good at winging it.

"What kind of deal?" He asked.

"The bond between a mother and a daughter is the strongest one there is, right?"

"So they say."

"Then let's test that."

"How?" He feigned disinterest.

I swallowed hard before I answered. I was about to take a major gamble on this. Carlisle's words that I could be a big enough trigger to bring my mother's memory back were ringing in my ears, but I couldn't be positive it would work.

"Bring her in here and let her get a good look at me." I had noticed from my inventory of the room that she wasn't one of the many vampires in the room. "If simply seeing me is enough to bring her true memories back, she and I will be allowed to walk out of here and all of her transgressions will be forgiven."

"And if she doesn't remember?"

"Then you can keep her, and I will become your new bitch." I said trying to keep my voice as even as possible. Like I said a big gamble. I could only hope if things went south, the others would be able to find a way to save both of us.

"You're that confident that she will remember you?" Aro asked with a smirk.

"I'm her daughter. The most important person in her life. She will remember me." I said praying that the words would be true.

"Very well, then I believe we have a deal." Aro smirked. "Stacey," A blonde women who looked to be in her mid-twenties stepped forward with a smirk on her face. "Would you please ask Bell to join us in the dining hall?"

"Of course, Master." Stacey answered with a bow of her head before heading toward the door.

"And Stacey," Aro called her back. "While you're gone will you please make sure the guest quarters are in order? Damon tells me we are going to have another unexpected guest later."

"Whatever you desire, sir."

"Thank you, Stacey." Stacey walked out the door. The sound of it closing behind her was very ominous. "Now, what do you say we remove those chains while we awaited your mother?" Aro said with a smirk.

"That would be much appreciated." I answered trying to sound compliant. I knew I wouldn't stand a chance in a fight with this many vampires, but if this didn't goes as planned, I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I needed to be free to phase if anything went wrong.

"Demetri, remove the chains, please." Aro said.

A short, kind of skinny blonde man, another of the four who paid us a visit, walked to my chair. He leaned down to unchain my wrists.

"I really hope she doesn't remember." He whispered. "I've been waiting to get my hands on you since the day I saw you sitting on the porch reading that stupid vampire book." He gave my ear a little nibble and laughed when I jumped a foot in the air. "You're free. Be careful, though. We wouldn't want Jane to have to hurt you again now, would we?"

The tone of his voice told me that was exactly what he wanted to see happen. I wouldn't give any of them the satisfaction. Instead, I massaged my wrist and ankles, thankful my werewolf body would heal the bruises in a matter of hours.

"Under normal circumstances, I would have a contract written for both of us to sign." Aro explained. "But, seeing as we are short on time and you look like an honorable woman, we can settle for the human way. Let's just shake on it."

Great, one touch of his hand, and he'd know that I was planning to try to fight my way out if things went wrong. I knew I didn't have a choice, though. If we didn't shake on it, he wouldn't consider the deal official, and I would lose, even if I won.

"Very well." I held my hand out to him in a sign of good faith. He smirked and took my hand. I suppressed the shiver that tried to make its way up my spine at the sensation his cold hand sent through my body.

"_Just breathe and relax." _I ordered myself. _"This will work and my mother and I will be headed back to Forks in no time." _

"Overconfidence is the downfall of many humans, m'dear." Aro smirked. "As is that stupid instinct forcing them to do everything in their power to survive." The last part of his comment left me confused until the pain of Jane's gift ripped through me and brought me to my knees screaming. Again, it stopped just as suddenly as it started. "I didn't want to have to do that again, Rosemarie," Aro continued as I lied on the floor trying to catch my breath. "But if you are going to insist on fighting if you lose your little gamble, then I have no choice. I won't risk my family being harmed, no matter what the case."

"I'm a werewolf. What do you expect?" I growled moving to stand back up. A foot on my back prevented me from doing that.

"And I'm vampire, but you don't see me trying to kill you without a reason, do you?" Aro's amused voice floated down on me.

"No, but letting your family hurt me because of the thoughts I'm having isn't much better." I said pushing hard against his foot. Before my transformation, I would've been helpless against his strength, but my werewolf genes gave me a greater strength than I've ever had. I easily pushed his foot off, almost knocking him to the floor as I stood up. Jane growled, and I braced myself for another wave of pain. Aro, however, held up his hand.

"It's alright, Jane, dear." He smiled. "We don't own her, yet. She's perfectly free to do what she likes."

I was about to make some cocky, cruel remark when the doors Stacey exited reopened and my mother stepped through them. She looked as exactly like she did the last time I saw her only paler and a lot prettier. True, I've always felt that my mother was pretty, but she was beyond gorgeous know. Her hair was the perfect shade of brown, and she had perfectly straight, white teeth. Her eyes glowed a dark, terrifying red, though, but it was easy to look past considering the circumstances.

I wanted to run to her and throw my arms around her. After nearly a month thinking she was dead, what girl wouldn't to embrace their mother? Unfortunately, Demetri wrapped a hand around each of my wrists to prevent me from doing just that.

"We don't want to scare her, now, do we?" He whispered. I swallowed hard but nodded. He was exactly right. I didn't want to scare her into giving Aro an overwhelmed answer. I would just allow her to take the time she needed.

She walked across the room with a confidence and beauty I had never seen in my mother before. She held her head high and didn't seem to notice that a room full of vampires was staring at her. She didn't even look at me as she walked by. That action alone tore through me and she may as well have stabbed me through the heart.

"Aro," She said embracing him. "Stacey said you wished to see me."

"Yes, dear, I did." Aro answered pulling away from her. "We were hoping you could help us settle a little disagreement."

"I'll certainly do the best I can, Master, but I'm not sure I remember enough to be of much help." She explained.

"This happens to be a question about what you can and can't remember." Aro said turning her around to face me. "This young lady says her name is Rosemarie Swan and claims to be your daughter. If she's telling the truth, we have no problem allowing the two of you to stay here, or both of you two leave. But, if she's lying, then we need to take care of the situation."

"You guys never said anything about a daughter." She said. "And Felix says I was alone the night he met me. Why would I…"

"There could be any number of reasons why she wasn't in the picture when Felix met you, and that is exactly what we need to get to the bottom of."

What were they talking about? My mother had never met anyone named Felix. And what did she mean they never said anything about a daughter? I didn't express any of these thoughts for fear of Jane's power and influencing my mother's response.

"Just take a good look at her." Aro continued. "If she is someone you remember, or think you can remember, then we could have a happy reunion. If not, will take care of her, just in case she was sent by Edward to trick you?"

What the hell was that supposed to mean? I opened my mouth to ask, but Demetri squeezed my wrists tighter.

"I would keep my mouth shut if I were you." He whispered.

My mother walked up to me and looked at me closely scrutinizing every inch of me as she walked around Demetri and I. There was no recognition at all in her eyes. Nothing that said, yes, I know who this girl might be. Everything was coming off her as closed and distant. The look in those eyes hurt me more than the moment the firefighter told me she was dead.

Tears leaked from my eyes, and I wanted to sink into the floor and disappear. How could she not remember her own daughter?

"Mommy," I whispered. "It's me, Rosie. You're little beanie baby." I used the nickname she had given me when I was a young child in the hopes of jogging her memory. "You used to tell me that I was the only light on your darkest day and that you loved me more than all the stars in the sky. Don't let them keep that from you. Please, remember and let's go home."

She furrowed her brow as if trying to remember my words, and I prayed that my mini speech had worked. After a minute, she shook her head.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I have no clue who this is, but I don't think she's my daughter."

"NO!" I screamed struggling to break free of Demetri's grasp. He squeezed tighter shattering my wrists. I fell to the floor crying in agony. How could this not have worked?

"Thank you, dear." Aro said. "You can go, but would you please tell Stacey that I'd like an update on the guest room?"

"Of course, Master." My mother replied. "Sorry I couldn't be much help."

"Don't be silly, you've helped a lot." I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke and it sent anger coursing through me.

I pretended to be crying as I listened for the closing of a door. I wasn't going to risk killing her when I unleashed my attack. I knew I had no chance at killing them all, but I was going to at least get Aro. I was going to tear him to pieces for taking my mother from me, not once, but twice.

The second I heard the door slam shut, I let the anger and fear takeover. I leapt from the ground and transformed in a move so fast my father would've been proud. I'd like to say that I executed my attack perfectly, hitting my mark, and killing the vampire that destroyed my life, but I'd be lying.

I didn't even get halfway across the room before pain, once again, ripped through my body and I fell to the floor howling and whining. I didn't know how long the pain lasted before my howls and whines became screams and pleads for the pain to stop.

Only it didn't. The pain tore through my body for what seemed like hours until I finally faded into a beautiful black oblivion.

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? Anyone have any ideas about why Bella can't remember Rosemarie? And will the wolves and the Cullens be able to save Rosemarie and Bella? Or will they be lost forever?**


	24. House of Cards

**A/N: Okay guys, I'm back. Again, I apologize for the long delay. School, work, and internship didn't leave much time for hobbies and fun. I'm done with school and internship now, so hopefully I will be able to concentrate on this stuff. **

**JACOB**

"So what do we do, now?" I asked Alice.

We had been in Volterra for over an hour, and that time was spent checking in the hotel and going over Alice's plan. It was either the most brilliant thing that I had ever heard, or the dumbest. I guess we'd find out in a few hours when we put it to the test. Unfortunately, the plan involved the Cullens going into the lion's den to distract Aro and the others, while the pack and I got rid of any guards patrolling the city. We needed to cut the number of the Volturi down a great deal if we were going to win a fight against Aro.

"Gather the pack and get something to eat." Alice answered from her spot on one of the queen sized beds in our room. "My family and I are going to go on a quick hunt. We need all the strength we can get. Be ready to begin your patrol in two hours. We should be safely below giving them no reason to suspect anything is going on up here."

I didn't like the idea of leaving my daughter in the hands of those monsters any longer than necessary, but I understood the need for it. If we didn't have the strength to face and destroy the Volturi, then we would be useless to her. We'd probably end up getting ourselves killed. And, knowing what I know of Aro, she'd probably be forced to watch our execution. I wasn't going to let that happen.

"We won't let that happen." Edward said in response to my thoughts. "We will get her out, no matter what it takes. They've already destroyed Bella I will not let them do the same to your daughter. I will do what I have to do to get her out, even if it means hurting or…"

I knew where he was going with this, but I didn't think that I could handle hearing the words. Besides, I honestly didn't think he had it in him, and I didn't want him making promises that he couldn't keep.

"Fine, I won't say it, but I could do it, Jake." He said quietly. "Because I know it's what she would want."

"I know, but I just can't think like that, right now."

"I know. I feel…"

A frantic knock on the door cut him off.

"Jake, it's Leah. Let us in. Something's wrong with Seth."

**BELLA**

There was something seriously off about all of this. Aro had been insistent that Felix take me for a little vacation to get me reacquainted with Italy. I had practically begged for the chance to stay and face this girl who supposedly worked for the monster that was Edward Cullen. I mean, I was the one Edward hurt. I had a right to be present during anything involving him and his lot. Yet, Aro didn't feel that way.

He said he was worried that it was a trick or distraction so Edward could get in a sneak me away again. I didn't think Edward would be stupid enough to try the same thing twice, but Aro refused to hear that reasoning. He wanted me out for my own safety, so I packed my stuff and left with Felix.

He had checked us in to one of the nicest hotels in Volterra just hours before our guest was set to arrive and had spent the last twelve hours showing me around Italy trying to get me to remember the time we spent here together. I was sorry to say that nothing was coming back to me, though.

Granted, I wasn't paying much attention to the things Felix was saying or showing me. I was still trying to figure out what was going on with Aro. Why didn't he want me to be there to meet this girl? I knew it went beyond simply wanting to protect me from Edward. Aro was way too passionate about my leaving for my safety to be the only issue. No, he was hiding something from me, but I couldn't figure out what.

It didn't help that I felt this strange tickle in my stomach and brain every time I thought about who this girl might be. Aro claimed that I didn't know her, but something inside said that I did. Something told me I knew her better than she knew herself. It was silly considering I didn't even know her name, but I could feel a connection with this nameless, faceless person, and that had to mean something, but Aro didn't want to hear it.

"Are you alright?" Felix asked as we walked by a series of clothing shops. "You seem a little distant?"

"I'm fine." I answered.

"You're still thinking about her, aren't you?" He pressed. I nodded knowing there was no use in trying to deny it. "Aro told you he is going to take care of it. He's going to make sure that Edward doesn't hurt you, again. Even if it means killing every creature he sends to negotiate until Edward has no choice but to come himself."

"I know, but that's not the problem."

"Then what is?"

I put my head in my hands and sank onto a bench in front of a restaurant.

"There's something about her. Something important, but I can't remember." I said shaking my head and wishing I could cry. "I don't know what it is, but I don't want Aro to hurt her, and I don't understand why. I…I…I"

"Hey, hey, hey." He whispered wrapping his arm around me. "Just breathe and try to relax. This is exactly why Aro wanted you out of the before she arrived. The mere thought of her is messing with your mind. He didn't want seeing her to make it worse. It's probably another trick of his. A way for him to coax you back."

"You say that, but that doesn't feel right. I just wish I could see her and find out for sure."

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"Fine." I said rising from the bench and stomping toward the crowd.

"Bella, wait!" Felix called chasing after me. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know." I answered yanking away from his hand on my shoulder. "I just need to be alone, right now. So I can figure this out."

"I don't think that's a good idea, either."

"Well, I don't think being around someone who isn't being completely honest with me is a good idea either. So I'll find you later, okay?"

I took off faster than I should've in such a public place, but I just needed to get away from him. I needed a minute alone to think for myself and try to get past the mental blocks in my head. Thankfully, Felix didn't try to come after me this time. Instead, he stayed frozen in place with a look of deep hurt I his eyes.

It surprised me to find that I didn't care that I hurt his feelings. It shouldn't be like that with someone you were supposed to love. You were supposed to do everything in your power to avoid hurting them, and it was supposed to tear you up inside when you did. But all I found as I ran away from him was a strange sense of relief and freedom.

I didn't stop running until I felt a strange sense of de ja vu wash over me. It wasn't anything concrete. Just that strange tickle in the pit of my stomach and back of my mind. It was trying to tell me something, and I decided to listen this time.

I stopped in my tracks and looked at my surroundings. I was standing in a dark alley staring up a gigantic clock tower.

I didn't understand. It was just a normal old clock tower—nothing special about it—and yet, something in the back of my mind told me that it was important, really important.

I took a breath and closed my eyes. The only way to remember was going to concentrate on the feeling, whatever it was. So that's exactly what I did.

I thought hard about nothing but the clock tower, and why it could be so important. At first, there was nothing. No memories or feelings or anything. Then I was seized with overwhelming panic as I remembered running as if my life depended on it. But what was I running from? Edward?

No, that wasn't right.

I shook my head to rid it of the thoughts Aro and the others had implanted there. If I was going to do this, I had to let go of everything I had been told since the moment I woke up.

I took another breath and pushed myself a little harder. I wasn't running from anything, but towards something. No, towards someone. I was running towards someone. Someone whose life was in danger because of me. But who?

I sank to the hard ground, pulling my knees to my chest trying desperately to remember what happened that day. Who was so important to me that I would go crashing through the streets of some unknown city? If I could only remember that, I could remember everything.

I buried my face in my knees forcing myself to remember, and that's how my saviors found me nearly three hours later.

**ROSEMARIE**

My whines echoed through the nearly empty stone room as Jane's powers once again shot through me. This time it hit me with such a force that I flew backward landing hard on my back. Thankfully, Jane was hurting me so bad, I barely felt the impact. I laid there whining and writhing against her gift until the whines turned to screams and I could see my human limbs flailing where my paws had been.

Jane released me then, and I went limp as my screams turned into to sobs. My entire body was throbbing and I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was sleep and try to forget this horrible day ever happened. I didn't think that I could take much more of this torture today.

"Get up." Caius's voice demanded from above me. I opened my eyes to see him standing there with the sadistic smile I had come to associate with his face. Aro had given him permission to handle this situation in any way he saw fit, and he was pulling out all the stops. His brothers were simply sitting in their "thrones" enjoying the show while he did what he apparently does best.

I didn't think that my body could handle another round of torture.

"Please, not again." I cried. I didn't even have the energy to shake my head or wipe my tears. "Just leave me alone for a while, please?"

His smirk widened—something I didn't think was possible—as he placed his foot on my breast and pressed down hard. I cringed, but didn't scream. Compared to Jane's power, this pain was a walk in the park.

"You've got a lot to learn, don't you bitch?" He mused. "You belong to us to now. And that means, you do what you have to do to make us happy, or you suffer the consequences. What we want right now is for you to get your phasing under control so that we can play with you the way we used to play with your mother. So, get up and please your masters or things will get a lot worse."

"But we've been at it for hours." I knew begging was pathetic and useless, but I didn't know how much more my body could handle. Even my accelerated healing needed time to work. "I can barely move. Please, just let my rest for a while. Please."

Laughter rang out through the stone room causing more tears of humiliation to fall down my cheeks.

"Do you think we give a damn about any of that?" Caius asked moving his foot to the other breast. This time I couldn't help a small whimper. "Because we don't, and you shouldn't care about it either. You need to learn that the only thing that you should care about is pleasing my brothers and I. No matter how much it hurts, or how tired you are. This is your new position in life—by your choosing, I might add. The sooner you get that through your pathetic mutt brain, the better off you'll be. Now, GET UP!"

The words echoed through the room, and I knew one more protest would mean more trouble for me. Still sobbing I tried to push myself into a standing position, but my limbs didn't want to listen to me. No matter how hard I tried to force them.

"I'm waiting." Caius goaded.

"I can't." I sobbed. "My body won't listen to me."

"Demetri, help her." He demanded.

"With pleasure."

Milliseconds later, there was a pain in my scalp that caused me to shriek and the others to laugh as I was yank to my protesting feet. Caius chuckled as he came to stand in front of me.

"Now, where were we?" He placed a finger to his chin as if trying to remember something. Considering he had a photographic memory, I knew it was just another attempt to set me off. "Ah yes, we were talking about how pathetic you are."

"I am not pathetic." I snapped at him.

Again laughter echoed around the room.

"Really, look at yourself." He gestured toward me. "Standing here naked before a whole group of men who can't wait to get their hands on every inch of you." As if to emphasize his point, he put his hand on my stomach and began trailing it up to my breasts. "A position your mother sacrificed her freedom, life, and memories to keep you out of. And what do you give her in return for all of that? A failed rescue attempt that made all her efforts to protect you useless."

"Shut up." I snapped unable to stop myself. Everything he was saying was true, but I couldn't face it. With everything they were doing to me right now, I just couldn't think about how I had failed my mother and made her sacrifices for nothing.

My words were met by a hard slap across the face. Demetri held my hair tightly refusing to let me give in to the force of it, and I cried out from the pain in my cheek and scalp while the others laughed.

"It's no wonder she couldn't remember you." Caius continued as if I hadn't interrupted. "If you were my daughter I wouldn't want to remember you either. Hell, if you were my daughter, I would've paid Aro to take you from me, not give up everything to protect you."

"My mother loves me, and she will remember me." I growled. This earned me another slap, and this time I tasted blood.

"Your mother tolerated you." Caius responded. "And I bet she's glad to be free of you. You are the one that ruined her life, after all. You kept her away from the ones she truly loved."

"It was her guilt over what she did to Edward and my father that kept her away. Not me."

"Keep telling yourself that, little girl. Let me know when it is true.

"It is true, and nothing you can say will make me believe otherwise."

"It doesn't matter what you believe, because the truth is, you and your mother belong to us now, and nothing is going to change that. So you may as well get used to it."

He was right up in my face. I could tell he was trying to scare me, but despite everything, I would never be scared of any of them. Just because they hurt me didn't mean they could control me. So, instead of cowering away from his stare, I hulked back my snot and spit it right in his eyes.

"Stupid bitch." He growled and backhanded me this time. The force was so much that Demetri couldn't hold me this time. He released my hair and I fell to the floor with a cry of pain as my body made contact with the floor.

I barely had a chance to recover before I was assaulted with kicks in the stomach and shins. I covered my face with my arms as I gasped for air.

"Stubborn little slut." Caius growled as he continued to kick me. I screamed and pleaded with him to stop. I even told him I was sorry.

"Brother!" Aro's voice rang out through the room. "That's enough for now." The kicks stopped, but I didn't allow myself to relax. I wanted to be ready in case he started the assault again.

"But she's nowhere near ready." Caius argued. "Yes, her phasing has improved, but her manners leave something to be desired." He aimed another kick at my stomach.

"As true as that is, Caius," Aro said stepping up and placing his hand on Caius's shoulder. "We could all use a break. I'm sure Jane would like a chance to go hunting and regain her strength."

"That would be much appreciated, Master." Jane said quietly.

"Besides, our new little bitch," Aro nudged me with his toe. "May be a werewolf who can heal, but even that has its limitations. I'm sure you don't want to break our toy before we've gotten a chance to really play with it."

"Of course not, brother." Caius answered not sounding happy.

"Thank you." I whispered to the powers that be as I laid there trying to get my breath back. I'd be given some time to recover and think my way out of this horrible situation that I got myself into.

A foot pressed hard against my wind pipe pulled me out of my relieved and grateful thoughts. I opened my eyes to see Aro standing above me with a twisted smile on his face.

"Let's get one thing straight, dog." He practically growled. "This break is not mercy, and it mostly certainly isn't for you. It is for my family and I. Do you understand?"

"Yes." I gasped out. I somehow managed to hear every word he said even while gasping for air.

The pressure on my throat increased a little.

"Yes, what?" He growled.

"Yes, Master."

He removed his foot from my throat, and I clutched sucking in as much air as I could get.

"Excellent. Demetri, take her to Bella's old cell. Clean her up and make sure she gets some sleep."

"Yes, Master." Demetri answered yanking me up by my hair and dragging me toward the door.

"And I wouldn't waste my energy on trying to escape, my dear." Aro called after me. "I want your phasing under control by dawn, or things are going to get a lot more fun for Caius and painful for you."

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? I hope Bella's memory scene went alright. Ten points for anyone who can tell me what moment she is struggling to remember, another ten points to anyone who can tell me who her saviors are, and a final ten points to anyone who can tell me what is wrong with Seth based off what you read in this chapter. **

**I have to say, the part with Rosemarie was probably my favorite scene. I've been wanting to give Caius the sadistic bastard spotlight for a very long time, but I couldn't find a part where it was okay for him to outshine Aro. This scene was perfect, though. I hope you enjoy. **

**Also, I tried very hard to keep Rosemarie's torture scene from crossing into the child molesting category. Yes, it is what the brothers want her for but, while there are many lines I would cross in writing, this isn't one of them. She will be saved before things get to that point, so you need not worry about that detail. **

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoy. **


	25. Red

**A/N: Before I start, I need to give thirty points to ****shaqbarcalis****. (S)He had the right answer to all three of my questions at the end of the last chapter. Nothing else really to say about this chapter, except that I hope you enjoy it. **

**JACOB**

I pulled the door open to find Leah and Erick standing on either side of Seth. His arms were around each of their shoulders, and their arms were around his back. They were doing their best to support him. Sweat was pouring off his face, and he was hunched over as if he was in pain.

"Jesus, Seth, what happened?" I asked stepping aside to let them come into the room. I took a glance down the hallway just to make sure that no one was watching. We didn't need the police or paramedics called right now. There was no time to deal with them.

"I think they're hurting her." Seth gasped as Erick and Leah laid him on the bed.

"Who's hurting who?" Alice asked. The confusion in her tone was foreign to me. You could always count on Alice to know what was going on before anybody else in the room. To find out that she didn't know was a little scary. It meant we would be going into this whole situation blind. I didn't like that.

Yet, I wasn't sure if I was grateful for the fact that_ I_ understood what he meant or not.

"The Volturi." I answered Alice horrified at what they might be doing to my little girl. "They're hurting Rosemarie."

"How does he know that?" She questioned. I could tell that she was upset that someone else in the room had advanced notice that something was going on when she didn't have a clue.

"An imprinter can feel when the object of their imprint is in pain." I explained going to stand beside Seth. "And because both Seth and Rosemarie are wolves, it's more intense for both of them. What are they doing to her Seth?"

"I don't know." Seth answered taking deep breaths. "But it has been going on since before we got off the plane."

"And you're just now telling us about it." I asked. "Why didn't you mention it when it started?"

"It wasn't that bad in the beginning." Seth answered. "I didn't want to make you anymore upset than you already were. And honestly, I barely even felt it before and it wasn't constant. I thought at first that it was just my own panic over what was happening to her."

"What do you mean it wasn't constant?" I pressed.

"The pain would last for a minute or two then it would stop. Sometimes the break would last ten minutes and others only a minute or two. This last time was the worst, though. She's so weak and scared, but they don't care." Seth explained.

"What are they doing?" I looked up at Edward hoping he had some kind of in sight. He had dealt with these monsters in the past, after all.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Edward answered with a shrug. Concern, anger, and hate were etched all over his face. He wanted to get her away from those monsters as much as I did. "They're using pain and torture to get her phasing under control."

"But why?" I asked. Aro seemed like the type who would want to use werewolves as guard dogs. You'd think he'd want to train her to stay in wolf form the whole time. Not force her to stop phasing altogether.

"No." Edward responded to my thoughts. "He doesn't want a guard dog. He wants a replacement for Bella. He wants another pet. And the only way he can get her to be a good one is if she doesn't randomly phase while she is in bed with him."

I swallowed the bile creeping up my throat. Deep down, I had known that's what they were going to do to her, but I convinced myself that they wouldn't do that to a child.

"They don't have enough humanity left to care about how old she's is." Edward placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. "They'd molest a ten year old if they ever got their hands on one."

"We can't let that happen to her, Edward." I shook my head. "We can't. She doesn't deserve to suffer for her parents' mistakes."

And that was the truth of the matter. It wasn't just Bella's mistakes that got us to this point. While I didn't take advantage of Bella's vulnerability the night we made Rosemarie, I didn't do much to remind her that she was a married woman who had just lost her father.

I had wanted Bella for years and, when she finally wanted me in the same way, I couldn't resist. It was wrong and stupid, and if I could've changed it, I would've.

"Number 1," Edward said. "I don't need a play by play of the night you slept with my wife. And number 2: don't ever think like that, okay? If you and Bella hadn't slept together that night, Rosemarie wouldn't even be here. True, none of this would be happening, but the world would've missed out on the amazing person that is Rosemarie Swan. And from what I've seen of her and heard in her thoughts, the world needs more people like her. But, no matter what, she's your daughter, Jacob. You shouldn't want to change anything that brought her into the world."

"None of that matters right now." Erick snapped cutting off any chance at a reply from me. "Rosemarie is being hurt. We need to get her out of there. We can argue over the past later."

"You know, kid, I'm getting a little sick of your attitude." Edward growled. "You need to remember who you are dealing with."

"Back off, bloodsucker." Leah growled back moving to stand in front of Erick. "I don't care if we have a truce right now. You touch him and I will tear you to pieces."

"Enough!" Alice said pushing her way between them. "Edward, Erick's right. We need to focus on getting Rosemarie out of their before they hurt her even more. Now, Seth, are they still hurting her?"

"No, but she's really scared and weak." Seth said from his spot on the bed.

"Okay, then we need to get started." Alice continued. "Jacob, you and Sam get the pack something to eat then start your patrol of the city. Edward, go to Carlisle and Esme's room, and tell them to round the others up. We are going hunting. And Erick, you need to stay here."

"Hell, fucking no!" He yelled. "I'm not gonna sit here while the girl who has been like my sister since day care is in danger. I'm going with one group."

Edward rolled his eyes, and Leah growled in response before turning to look at Erick.

"We admire your courage, but this fight is no place for a human, Erick." She explained. "The vampires we are facing are nothing like the ones you see in movies. It takes more than a stake through the heart to kill them. You have to tear them apart and burn the pieces. Only werewolves and other vampires are strong enough to do that. Honestly, you'd be a liability that could get people killed."

Erick opened his mouth to argue.

"She's right." Seth cut him off. "You wouldn't be able to fight, and you need someone to protect you. And, because of the imprint, that someone would be Leah. If she's focusing on keeping you safe, then she's not focusing on keeping herself alive. Do you want to be responsible for her death."

"That's a little harsh, Seth." Leah said.

"Maybe, but it's the truth. If you want to give Leah and the rest of us the best possible chance to live, then you need to stay here. Okay?"

Seth was right. Reminding the object of someone's imprint of the danger they pose to the imprinter during a fight is the easiest way to convince them they shouldn't come to the fight. It was something Rachel and Emily had learned early on, but it took awhile for Claire to get the picture. She still struggled with it when Quil went into a fight. I hoped Erick wasn't going to be like Claire. We didn't have time to try to talk him out of following us.

"Fine. I'll stay, but if you don't bring Rosemarie back, I will find a way to kill every single one of you."

I was sure none of us took his threat serious. There was no way he would be able to kill Leah, and killing the rest of us would hurt her. He wouldn't be the one to put her through that kind of grief.

"Don't worry." Alice said. "If we don't bring her back, it's because we aren't coming back at all."

Erick nodded.

"Now, Edward and I will leave you guys to say goodbye and take care of whatever needs to be taken care of." Alice said. "But Jacob, I need a word."

I followed Alice and Edward outside wondering what she possibly needed to say to me. Edward headed up the hallway and entered a room two doors down from us. I knew everyone in the five rooms we reserved would be able to hear us, but it was nice to have the illusion of privacy.

"Because of your involvement, I can't see what is gonna happen, but I don't know if Damon will be able to see us coming. I'm pretty sure he has the same limitations as me, but you need to be aware that the guard might know you are coming. If they do, then you need to be prepared."

"Don't worry." I said. "Sam always make sure that the pack is ready for anything."

"Good. Now, if we haven't returned to the hotel by sun up, then we are dead." She continued, and I swallowed hard. "If that happens, you go in there and kill as many of those bastards as possible, get your daughter back to Forks, and finish raising her. Just make sure she remembers her vampire family from time to time."

"I will." I told her.

"Good. We'll see you at sunset."

Then she disappeared into the room next to mine leaving me alone to pray that everyone would live through the night.

**LEAH**

As Edward, Alice, and Jacob left the room I faced the crushing reality that I might never see Erick again. It would definitely be the greatest irony of my life. I've finally found happiness and got over losing Sam, only to get lose my life in a battle to save someone who meant as much to Jacob and my brother as Erick did to me.

I took Erick's hand and led him over to the armchair next to the window. I was never one for emotional goodbyes, but if this was going to be the first, last, and only goodbye I shared with Erick, I wanted it to be a good, honest one. I gestured for him to sit, and when he did, I sank into his lap wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my face in his shoulder.

"This is the part where I'm supposed to tell you that everything's gonna be okay." I said lifting my head to look him in the face. "I'm supposed to promise that we will get Rosemarie safely out of there and be back before dinner. I'm supposed to be all positive, and I wish I could be. Unfortunately, the imprint won't allow it. I have to be completely honest with you."

"I'd rather hear the cold hard truth, then be told all that positive bullshit any day. Besides, I already know the odds aren't in our favor. I was paying attention when they were talking to Rose yesterday." Erick said wrapping his arms around me.

"Then you know the likelihood of us getting out of this alive is very slim." I whispered snuggling closer to him. If these were going to be my last few moments with him, I wanted to get as close to him as possible.

"Sadly, yes." He responded. "I have faith that you will all return safely, though."

"Yeah, well, just in case that hope is false." I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the extra plane ticket. "This is a one-way ticket back to Jacksonville. The plane leaves at 10 tomorrow night. If we don't come back by sunset, you are to get on the plane, go back to your old life, and forget about all of this. Tell people that Rosemarie found her father in Forks and chose to stay there with him, and move on. Forget what you know, so the Volturi don't have a reason to come after you.

"No." Erick shook his head refusing to take the ticket from my hands. "I can't do that, Leah. I can't just walk away from this."

"You have to, Erick." I pleaded. "If you don't, the Volturi will come for you, and they will kill you. I don't want that to happen."

"Do you honestly think that I would even want to live if you were gone? Because I wouldn't." He argued. "If you die tonight, I'd go to the Volturi and beg them to send me to join you."

"And do you honestly think that's what I want for you?" I snapped back pulling away from him.

"No, but how do you expect me to move on without you?" He asked.

"The same way everyone else does. You take a deep breath, you mourn and you move on."

"And how I am supposed to do that when, by your own admission, losing you is going to leave an empty hole inside my chest? How am I supposed to move on when simply breathing without you will be utter agony? I mean, it is hard enough to lose someone you love, but when you add the supernatural stuff, it's gonna be almost impossible."

"I know, but you just have to do it, because that's what I want for you. I want you to get married some day and have lots of babies. I want you to grow old with someone you love and be with me again once you've had a full life."

"Stop talking like you're already dead." He growled pulling me closer to him. "There's still a chance that you will come back alive. I need to hold on to that chance."

"Okay, but I need you to promise me that you will move one, if I don't return. I need to know that you will not die if I do. Only then can I focus on coming back to you in one piece. I can't worry about what will happen if I don't come back to you."

He swallowed hard and was silent for almost a full minute before he said,

"I promise that I will do my best to move on if anything happens to you."

His voice shook and cracked as he spoke, and tears pooled in his eyes.

"Then I promise to do everything in my power to not only come back to you, but make sure Rosemarie makes it back safely."

He nodded as a few tears fell from his eyes. I reached up to wipe them away before snuggling back into his chest planning to enjoy what could be my last few minutes of happiness.

That was until Seth, who had been silent this whole time, started gasping for air…

**ROSEMARIE**

I stumbled along behind Demetri as he dragged my down the hall by my hair. My body was so weak and sore from torture of the last few hours that I could barely keep up. Demetri didn't care, though. He seemed to relish in my struggle.

When we finally reached my "room", he shoved me through the door, and I stumbled landing hard on my front. I swear I heard bones break when I threw my hands out to avoid breaking my face. Demetri just laughed and gave me a little kick.

"Get in the bathroom." He ordered. "We need to get you cleaned up." I struggled to push myself into a standing position, only to be shoved back to the floor. "Bitches have floor legs for a reason. Crawl." He growled.

I did as he said cringing through the pain shooting through my wrists every time I put weight on them. Demetri laughed at my whimpers as I made slow progress to the bathroom. Occasionally, he'd give my ass a sharp kick in order to speed up the process.

Once in the bathroom, I huddled into a small corner while Demetri ran some water in the tub. From the steam rolling off it, I could tell that it was purely hot water.

"You know," Demetri mused as he watched the water filling the tub. "I always wanted to do this to with your mother, but thanks to the agreement she made with Aro, she was allowed peace from all of us when she was in this room."

"What do you mean?" I asked in a shaking voice. The Cullens had already informed me that my mother had made an agreement with Aro to save me, but I hadn't known what the details of the agreement were. Honestly, neither Aro nor his brothers seemed like the type to show any type of mercy.

"Get in the tub." He ordered, and I thought he was ignoring my question. Not wanting anymore trouble, I did as I was told slowly and carefully trying not to hurt my sore body any more than necessary. "Aro wanted to punish your mother and the Cullens for breaking the law," Demetri continued answering my question. "And spitting in the face of their second chance."

"The Cullens had nothing to do with my mother's decision to leave." I said through clenched teeth as I slid into the scalding hot water.

"Perhaps not." Demetri shrugged. "But if Edward had been able to satisfy his wife, a mere human, she wouldn't have had to resort to fucking a dog."

Despite the position I was in, and the fact that I was scared to death, Jacob and Edward were my family and I wasn't about to let this monster insult him like that. I hulked back my snot and spit it into his face.

"Edward Cullen and Jacob Black are better men than you and your disgusting friends will ever be."

Demetri just chuckled and wiped the snot off his face before dipping it into the water to rinse it off.

"You know, I was going to try to make this a pleasant experience for you, considering what you've just been through, but now you can forget it."

Faster than I could even see, he put one hand on each of my shoulders and pushed down hard. I didn't even have a chance to defend myself before I submerged in the scalding water struggling against the force of his hands on my shoulders. Even tapping into my werewolf strength, I was no match for him.

Still I struggled against him. I wasn't about to give up now. Not after everything that I had been through this last month. Not after I found a hand full of things to fight for.

I fought against the hands that held me submerged in the water just picturing all those people. The father I still had to build a relationship with, the love of my life, my new werewolf family, Erick, my vampire family, and my mother. I needed to fight for her because I was the only one who could save her.

Fighting got harder the longer Demetri held me under the water. I could feel the water leaking into my lungs as I fought to get air. And just when I thought he was going to break Aro's rules, and let me die, he pulled me back up.

I choked out the water and gulped in lungfuls of glorious air as Demetri, laughing with amusement, pulled several things out of a cabinet. He laid then out on a counter out of my eye sight and turned back to me with a smirk.

"Let's have some fun, shall we?"

**JACOB**

"Seth, what's happening now?" I hear Leah practically scream from inside the room.

I figured she'd want some time with Erick, so I hadn't yet gone back in. The panic in her voice now told me that I was needed. I yanked the door open and ran into the room.

Seth was still lying on the bed. His mouth was open as if he was trying to speak, but no sound was coming out.

"Seth, what it is?" I said kneeling on the side of the bed opposite Erick and Leah. Leah was looking over her brother with wide eyes.

"Someone's," Seth gasped. "Trying," Gasp. "To drown," Gasp. "Her." Gasp.

I looked over at Leah, and it was a scary sight. She was just as panicked as I was, and I couldn't blame her. This was her brother lying here suffering and there was nothing any of us could do. Even worse, none of us had ever seen the imprint connection get this bad before.

It was common for the imprinter and the object of the imprint to feel each other's pain. They could even feel it when the other died, but it was a subtle thing. It felt like someone was punching you in the gut and knocking the wind out of you.

Never before has someone felt exactly what their other half was feeling. Did that mean Seth would die if Rosemarie did? Or would he just suffer through everything that she did? We had no idea, and now was not the time to figure that out.

"Leah, go get the others. We are leaving now." I said. "Forget about eating. We need to get her out of there before they kill Rosemarie and Seth."

"Right." Leah got up, shared one last meaningful look with Erick, and took off out of the room.

"Erick, I know staying here is gonna be hard for you, but it'll be helpful because we can't leave Seth here by himself."

Before Erick could respond, Seth started choking and gasping. I patted his back, not sure how much good it would do. He wasn't the one who had just swallowed a bunch of water.

"I'm going with you guys." He said between coughing fits. "I want to do my part in saving her."

"You can't, Seth." I shook my head. "You remember that speech you and Leah gave Erick." He nodded. "Well, it kind of applies to you now. In this scenario you are like Emily, Rachel, Claire, Kim, and Erick."

"No, because I'm not a liability." Seth argued. "I can fight. I won't be a sitting duck while everyone else is fighting."

"And what if they start hurting her while you are fighting?" I pressed.

"I'll deal with it." Seth snapped.

"You can't know that. Yours and Rosemarie's imprint is uncharted territory for us. We don't know all of the effects to werewolves imprinting on each other will have. What if they knock her unconscious or, God forbid, kill her while we are fighting? You don't know if you will share those effects or not. If you do, then you become a liability."

"But…"

"No buts, Seth. Do you think that Rosemarie wants to be saved only to find out that you've been killed? Of course she doesn't. You need to stay here with Erick, okay?"

"I'm not staying, here."

"You have to."

"No, I have to go help save Rosemarie!" Seth yelled back. "Jacob, I can feel everything they are doing to her. I can't just sit here and not do anything about it."

"You can, and you will." Sam's voice came from the door. Seth narrowed his eyes at the alpha tone in Sam's human voice as we turned to see him standing in the doorway with Leah next to him. "Seth, I forbid you to leave this room until it is time for you and Erick to catch the plane in the morning. You are to go home after that and never return to Volterra or take revenge on the Volturi."

Seth's eyes narrowed as Sam gave him the orders that could not be disobeyed.

"I hate you." He growled.

"Yeah, but you'll get over it." Sam replied. "Jacob, let's go."

**A/N: I know this isn't my best chapter and, to be completely honest, it wasn't a chapter I intended to write. I realized the timelines had gotten a little away from each other and I wanted to catch them up a bit. This is just a filler chapter. Now everyone is caught up to Bella at the clock tower. Which is where the next chapter will pick up. Hope you enjoy this one. **


	26. Black Balloon

**A/N: Sorry this one has taken me so long to get out. I've got so many projects that I've been working on lately and not enough time for all of them. As you've all probably realized this story is going to be wrapping up really soon. I estimate another two or three chapters, then an epilogue. I don't want the ending to come up like a surprise for you guys. **

**Also, I have been calling Damien Damon for the past few chapters. I apologize for that. His name is actually Damien. Let's just pretend Alice remembered it wrong. **

**I hope you enjoy the rest of it. **

**JACOB**

Rosemarie's current situation changed our plans drastically. Originally, the pack was going to eat then patrol the streets of Italy getting rid of any Volturi threat that we could find. The Cullens were going to be the ones to go down to confront Aro and his brothers. They were going to try to negotiate Rosemarie's freedom, and when that didn't work, they planned to fight until there wasn't any of them left to fight. The pack was supposed to take over after that.

Unfortunately, the fact that they were already trying to kill Rosemarie, for whatever reason, meant we were out of time. We had to confront them head on and do whatever we had to do to get her out of there alive. The problem was we had no idea what we were going to do to get her out of there.

We knew from the beginning that the chances of us winning a fight with the Volturi were very slim. It didn't help that we didn't have the time to thin out their numbers before the battle begun. But that's what I loved about my pack, and even the Cullens.

We knew there was a strong possibility that none of us were going to come out of this alive, but it didn't matter to any of them. All that matter was doing everything in their power to save one of their own.

"Carlisle," Sam voice startled me out of my thoughts. None of us had spoken since we left the hotel. "Do you smell that?"

We stopped in the mouth of the alley we had been about to walk into. Needless to say, I hadn't been paying attention to anything, but now that Sam had mentioned it, I did smell something funny.

It was the sickeningly sweet scent of vampire, but mixed with a familiar floral scent. One I hadn't smelled in over sixteen years, but it was definitely the unmistakable scent of lavender and…

"Bella." Edward whispered. I didn't know if he was reading my thoughts, or if he had caught the scent too. I didn't even know if the others had managed to register who they were smelling. All I knew was that Edward and I took off down the alley the second he whispered her name.

**BELLA**

I sat in the middle of that alley just staring at the clock tower for hours. The image of me running towards it as if my life depended on it never leaving my mind. I still couldn't make myself see who I was running toward, but I knew I needed to figure it out. If I could figure it out, then I would be okay. Why couldn't I remember?

Running footsteps against the cement of the alley pulled me out of my thoughts. Had Felix finally found me? Was he going to drag me back to Aro? Would he tell him about the trouble I was causing? I didn't need that right now. What I needed was time to figure out what had happened in this spot.

Unfortunately, I was cornered and there was no way to run away from Felix. If I wanted to stay here and figure this out, I was going to have to fight. The only question was: Could I beat him? Probably not, but I would try. I felt like everything I needed depended on figuring out the truth of this one moment in time. I would not let Felix or Aro keep it from me.

I dropped into a crouch preparing for a fight that I doubted I could win. Felix had been teaching me hand to hand, but I had only been a vampire for less than a week. That wasn't enough time to get good at anything. Still, I felt that I needed to fight for this more than anything else in my life. These were my memories.

"Bella?!" A voice called and I dropped further into my crouch. It wasn't Felix, but there was something familiar about the voice. It could be one of the other Volturi that I wasn't as accustomed to yet.

"Bella?!" Other voices joined in the call, and I started to panic. Had Felix gone back to Aro and brought back up? Had he already told Aro that I was going crazy? Were they going to kill me?

I backed myself further into the alley as the footsteps and shouts came closer. I knew I was only making things worse for myself, but I didn't know what else to do. Before I could come up with a plan, no less than twenty people came bursting into the alley.

It was obvious that seven of them were vampires. The paleness of their skin and the dark circles under their eyes were a dead giveaway. I made a note that their eyes were a different color from Aro's and the others'. These new vampires' eyes were a pretty butterscotch color rather than a terrifying yellow. If I lived through this moment, I was going to ask them why their eyes were different.

The others looked to be normal Native American humans, but there was a disgusting wet dog smell coming off them. Were these the vampire killing wolves that Aro had warned me about? If they were, the meant one of the four men that stood before me was Edward Cullen. I shrunk away from them, but my heart felt a little emptier with that step.

"Bella, it's me." The one with bronze hair said. He stepped forward with one hand out. He walked slowly as if afraid of startling me. I took another step back. "It's Edward. I won't hurt you. I know what they told you, but it's not true. I would never hurt you like that."

My head was shouting at me to run away as fast as I could. It was telling me that I needed to find Felix and alert Aro that Edward had returned for me. My heart was saying something completely different, though. It was doing so much more than telling me to stay and listen to what this man had to say. In fact, it was screaming at me to go to this man. It told me that I could and had, at one point, trusted him with my life. So, for the first time since I woke up as a vampire, I listened to my heart, instead of my head.

I ran at Edward Cullen with my arms open wide and leapt into his arms. My strength knocked us both to the ground, but I didn't care. I needed to find out what this feeling meant, and the only way to do that was to follow through with it. Straddling his waist, I leaned forward and brought my lips crashing down on his with a bruising force—for a human that is. For a vampire, it was just a much more intense kiss.

He responded to the kiss, and that opened the floodgates. As Edward pulled me closer to him, everything that I had forgotten came rushing back. Everything about Edward and how much we loved each other. It was him that I was running to that day in this spot. The wedding, the honeymoon, how he was there for me after Charlie died, and everything that followed that horrid event. Sleeping with Jacob, leaving Forks, divorcing Edward, and…

I pulled away from Edward as the most important memory hit me. How could she not have been the first thing I remembered? I got up off a shell shocked Edward and moved to Alice. I pulled her into a tight hug and whispered,

"Rosemarie?"

"It's okay." She whispered hugging me back just as tightly, "They know."

"How?" I asked pulling away. I wasn't angry that they knew. I had known it was going to happen when I wrote that letter to Rosemarie. I knew she would go to Forks and find out everything I had kept from her all her life.

"I told the family." Alice said looking at the ground. "When we realized you were in the hands of the Volturi, I had to tell them, so they would understand why you did what you did."

I nodded.

"And Jacob?" I said to no one in particular, but found myself searching the group for the father of my daughter.

I found him standing between Sam who looked like he wanted to hug me and Leah who looked like she wanted to tear my head off. Jacob was staring at me in utter disbelief. I was sure there were tears glistening in his eyes.

"She found me. Just like you told her to." He said and I could hear the crack in his voice. I couldn't help it, I ran to him and through my arms around him.

"Oh Jacob." I sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I should've told you the second I found out. I just…"

"It doesn't matter." He replied stroking my hair. "All that matters is we get her out of there."

I pulled away from Jacob confused by his words. Get her out of where? I opened my mouth to ask that exact question, but my memories from the other day caught up with me.

Aro sent me away because he had a special guest he didn't want me to see coming to visit. He said that special guest worked for the Cullens and was coming to negotiate Edward's punishment. That could only mean…

Anger flowed through me as I took in both my families. Every one of them looked like they wanted to take their turn to hug me and welcome me back. Edward had gotten off the ground and was walking toward me with his arms held out in front of him. I stepped away from him. I didn't want to look at any of them. How could they let this happen to my daughter? I had trusted all of them with my life, and they had let the Volturi take it from me. God knows what those disgusting bastards were doing to her right now.

"Bella, it's me." Edward said confused by my reaction.

"I know who you are, Edward." I said.

"Then why won't you come to me." He took another step toward me, and I stepped back.

"Because, I'm afraid if I go near any of you, right now, I will do something I regret."

"What…"

"How could you let this happen?" I cut him off. "You know what kind of monsters they are. How could you just let her walk in there?"

"We tried to stop her." Jacob explained trying to approach me the way Edward had. I stepped away from him too. "But she's just like you. Stubborn as a mule."

"Exactly." Edward continued. "She decided she wanted to save and nothing we did could've stopped her. But we tried. You have no idea how hard we tried."

I swallowed hard. I knew they were right. I had seen evidence of Rosemarie's stubbornness. It was what made her teen years so hard on me. When she decided she wanted to do something, she did it, and nothing I did could stop her. I never thought it would get her into this much trouble.

I choke on a sob as I shook my head. Aro had her, and I had my memories back. There was no way we were going to get her out of there. Aro would consider this a worse punishment than anything he had already done.

"We have to get her out of there." I said. "I don't know how we are going to do it, but we have to do it."

"We will." Edward whispered as he and Jacob managed to sandwich me in a hug between the two of them.

"Not without help you won't." A familiar voice came from the shadows causing all of us to drop into crouches. "Relax." Damien chuckled coming out from his corner of the alley. "If I wanted to kill you, I could've done it by now."

While his words were true, I was the only one who was able to relax. As wrong as it sounds, a strong part of me trusted Damien. He was the only one who didn't hurt me while I was a slave to the Volturi. He didn't do much to help me, but I assumed it was because he was afraid to go against Aro. I can't say I blamed him. More importantly, I had always seen a kindness in him that most people had missed.

I stepped away from Edward and Jacob and walked toward Damien. Both boys tried to stop me, but I shook their hands off, there was at least one advantage to being a newborn.

"Then what do you want Damien?" I asked calmly.

"I want to help."

**EDWARD**

I snorted at his words moving to stand besides Bella. If she wanted to approach the potentially dangerous vampire, I wasn't going to let her do it alone. Besides, I had a few choice words for this particular vampire.

"Where the hell was that attitude in the weeks when an innocent human was being tortured and raped?" I snapped.

"Edward, don't." Bella hissed. "You don't understand." I was shocked to hear that she was defending this monster. True, he had never done anything to hurt her, but he didn't do anything to stop her from being hurt either. In my mind, that made him just as bad as Aro and the rest of his coven.

"He let them hurt you, Bella." I snapped at her. "How can you defend him?"

"Because I learned something in my time with the Volturi." She answered. "Sometimes things aren't black and white."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"She means, I served Aro for the same reason she willingly became his slave." Damien said.

I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant, but I didn't need to. He was remembering the whole thing, and I could see it in his thoughts.

_A barely 30 year-old Damien, stood in a small room with stone walls. I recognized it as one of the rooms in the Volturi's underground castle. Beside him stood a woman no older than 25 or 26 with a long mane of blonde hair. They were looking deeply into each other's eyes and I could see every bit of fear the woman was feeling shining through her baby blue eyes. _

_Between them stood a little girl no older than 6. I couldn't really see her, but I knew she had blonde hair and blue eyes just like her mother. She was clinging to Damien's hand as well as her mother's. I could feel her body trembling. _

"_Mommy, Daddy, I'm scared." She said. _

"_Don't be." Damien told her. "I won't let anything happen to you." _

"_It's not good for a father to make promises he can't keep." Aro said entering the room. "Especially to his child." _

_Damien stepped in front of both his girls and glared at Aro. _

"_Who are you? And what do you want?" He snapped at Aro. _

_Aro introduced himself, explained about the vampire world, and the great gift Damien would have if he became a vampire. He then attempted to convince Damien to make the change and join his coven. _

"_With all due respect," Damien stated when Aro finished. "I must regretfully decline. My wish is to live a normal human life with my family." _

"_I was afraid you were going to say that." Aro sighed and snapped his fingers. _

_Before Damien could even react, Felix, Alec, Demetri, and Jane were ripping his wife and child away from him. Damien tried to chase them, but they were out the door before he could move two feet. He could still hear his daughter screaming for him as the moved up the hallway. _

"_So let me rephrase, join me, or you will never see you family again." _

_Damien did the only thing he could. He accepted. _

"I'm sorry." I whispered. "I can only imagine what that must have been like."

Damien nodded. "Aro ended up killing them a year or so ago. He didn't tell me, but my gift did. It also told me that I needed to stay loyal to him until Bella and her daughter came along. I was told they need me. That's why I'm here now."

"No offense, but how can you help?" Jacob asked coming to stand on the other side of Bella.

"Damien's the one who can see pretty much everything." I explained. "He can tell us what to do, and how to do it. He can help us come up with the perfect plan and tell us exactly what needs to be accounted for."

Jacob nodded, but his thoughts told me he didn't believe it.

"Jacob needs some proof." I said to Damien.

Damien sighed, but looked Jacob in the eye. I cringed at the thought that came to Damien's mind, but couldn't think of a better way to prove his point.

"Fourteen years ago, your depression over losing Bella caused you to try putting a bullet in your head." Damien answered gravely. "You would've succeeded had Sam not stopped by to check on you."

"What?" Bella whipped around to look at him. "Jake, how could you?"

"Berate me for it later, Bella." Jacob snapped. "Right now, we need to save our daughter."

Apparently, Damien's words had been enough to convince Jacob, because he looked to Damien for further instructions.

"Actually, right now, we need to go back to the hotel and discuss what's going to happen next." Damien explained. "There are several options and none of them pretty. We need to decide what the best one is."

"No." Bella said. "We're right here. I'm not going back to the hotel without my daughter."

"If you go down there without a plan, neither you nor your daughter will make it back to the hotel." Damien snapped. "Listen to me, and at least, one of will."

"What's that mean?" Bella asked.

"Take me back to the hotel, and I will explain."

"Fine." Bella sighed. "But if anything happens to her because of this delay, I'm holding you personally responsible."

"Believe me, Bella." Damien said placing a hand on her shoulder. "If she was in immediate danger, I would be saying screw a plan, let's just attack. But a plan is the only thing that is gonna get her out of their alive."

Bella nodded reluctantly, and I took her hand.

"It's gonna be okay." I whispered. "We won't let them hurt her."

**ROSEMARIE**

Two extremely painful hours later, I was cleaned, dried, and wearing a ripped camisole barely held up by one strap and a pair of falling apart sweat pants.

"Get some rest." Demetri growled, shoving me toward the old mattress. It didn't look comfortable or safe at all with springs popping out of the holes and one thin, holey blanket with no pillow. "Aro wants you ready for another round of training in five hours." I stumbled forward landing hard on the mattress. "And if you try to escape, you will be in for a world of pain."

With that, Demetri left slamming the door. I heard the ominous sound of the lock sliding home and knew there was no hope of escape, even if I had the energy. I slid myself under the blanket and finally allowed myself the break down that had been threatening since my mother didn't recognize me.

I wasn't sure how long I cried before I fell into the beautiful blackness of sleep. Unfortunately, that didn't last very long.

_I found myself sitting in what used to be my bedroom, before my house burned down. Everything was exactly the way it was before the fire. My bed with its Ian Somerhalder comforter and Paul Wesley pillowcase was against the wall just under the window. My dresser complete with my television on it was against the opposite wall. And my closet was wide open spilling out all of my clothing and books. _

_Erick was sitting in the rocking that sat next to my bed. _

"_What are you doing here?" I asked moving to sit on the bed. _

"_I'm here to tell you that help is on the way. You just have to hang in there." He said with a smile. _

"_I don't understand." _

"_You don't need to." Seth's voice came from the other corner. I shifted so I could see him. "All you need to know is that your families are going to rescue you. Just have faith in that, and you can get through this." _

"_But how can I believe that?" I asked. "This is just a dream." _

"_Haven't you learned yet, Rosie." My mother's voice came from behind me. I felt her running her fingers through my hair as I turned to look at her. "Nothing in this world is ever just a dream." _

**A/N: What do you guys think? I will explain what happened with Rosemarie's dream in the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this one. Like I said, the end is near. **


	27. Sacrifice

**A/N: Not much to say about this chapter. I know some of you aren't going to like where this ending is headed, but I like it. I think that it is a creative and tragic. I do hope most of you agree. **

**BELLA**

The walk back to the hotel seemed to take forever; every instinct in screaming at me to go back there and rescue my daughter from those monsters. I wished I could go back there and rip Aro's balls off for even thinking he could hurt my daughter like that. The only things that kept me from doing just that were the knowledge that I would die before I got close enough to Aro to do any damage, and Edward's arm around my waist.

My free hand was holding tightly to Jacob's, but I wasn't doing much in the way of comfort. I could feel his body trembling and knew he wanted to turn around as badly as I did. Despite the circumstances, I had to admit that I was proud of Jacob for that. He had fallen into his role as Rosemarie's father so easily it was hard to believe he had spent sixteen years not knowing he had a daughter.

I was also proud of Edward. He gave no outward sign that my holding Jacob's hand was bothering him at all. I imagined it was but, as Rosemarie's parents, my connection with Jacob had gotten much deeper. I think Edward understood my need to comfort Jacob during this difficult time for both of us.

The others had converged around the three of us as we walked. I wasn't sure if it was because they were afraid that we'd do something stupid, or if the just wanted to be close to me. Either way, for the first time in nearly two decades, I felt completely safe and at home again. The only thing that could make this moment better was having my daughter back in my arms.

Sadly, that wasn't the only dark cloud hanging over what should've been a happy reunion, but we'd deal with the other issues once Rosemarie was safely back with us. I could handle everything once I had my family back together. That's all that matter and all I needed in this world. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that until it was too late.

As we walked, I found myself wondering if we could really trust Damien. I mean, none of us knew that much about him. Maybe he saw all of this coming and Aro sent him to mess with our heads a little. He may not have hurt me in my time with the Volturi, but that didn't mean he was a monster. He was at Aro's beck and call after all. What if he was just playing us?

It was a comfort that Edward trusted him, but what if that trust was unfounded? What if, whatever he saw in Damien's mind had been some part of Damien's powers? What if he could make someone see what he wanted them to see? There were too many questions for us to be putting this much faith in him, but I supposed we didn't have much of a choice.

"Relax." Edward whispered to me. "One way or another we will get Rosemarie out of there. We won't let her suffer the way you did."

"And if she's does, I will kill Aro, myself." Jacob growled.

"You'll have to wait your turn." I responded. "Although, I doubt they'll be anything left once I've finished with them."

"Momma lifting a car off her child, right?" Emmett stated with a goofy grin. I knew he was trying to add a little human to a tense situation, but now was not the time to make jokes. I gave him my best death glare. I imagined my red eyes made it look at the more menacing.

"Sorry." Emmett said edging away from me.

"We talked about this, Emmett." Rosalie whispered. "A time and a place."

"Defense mechanism." Emmett coughed.

"Guys, knock it off." Esme said stepping into the motherly role she played so well. "This is a tense enough situation we don't need the added bickering."

Everyone fell silent after that, and I was grateful. Not only was I too afraid for my daughter, but I found it hurt a lot to be back around my families. Even with the little bit of silliness they just played through, I could tell I missed a lot since I left Forks and I hated it. God, why couldn't I have just forgiven myself for what I did?

The receptionist gave us a funny look as we finally walked back into the hotel, but she nodded at Carlisle and didn't say anything as we passed. Thankfully, their rooms were on the first floor. I didn't think I had the energy to do stairs. However, all of us crammed into one tiny room wasn't going to be much fun at all.

Sam knocked on the door three times.

"Seth, Erick, we're back." He called through the door. "Let us in."

I gave Edward and Jacob a wide-eyed crazy woman look at the mention of Rosemarie's best friend. Letting Rosemarie come was one thing. At least she would be able to transform and defend herself, but Erick was a helpless human. How could they be so irresponsible?

"You brought Erick?" I nearly yelled.

"Yes." Leah said, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at me. I flinched a little at her tone, but wondered what had caused it. I knew she was angry about what I had done to Jacob, but why would she be defended Erick? "He refused to stay behind. I barely convinced him to stay at the hotel during the fight."

I sent Jacob a questioning look. Why would Leah even care what happened to Erick? They were complete strangers.

"I'll explain once we're inside." Jacob whispered. "Leah, back off a little."

"Whatever." She shrugged.

The door opened and Seth Clearwater poked his head out. He had a look of eager anticipation on his face.

"Did you get her out?" He asked. "Is she alright?"

I knew he was talking about Rosemarie, but I didn't know why he looked so flipped out about it. Again, I asked myself why he cared so much. I get that they were family, at least by werewolf standards, but they hadn't known each other long enough for him to care this much.

"Unfortunately, no." Sam answered. "But our trip wasn't completely wasted. Let us in, and we will explain."

Seth opened the door and stepped to the side. It wasn't until our giant party was squished into the tiny hotel room that Seth and Erick noticed the two people who weren't supposed to be there.

"Ms. Swan?" Erick yelled and ran at me, throwing his arms around me. Yes, the kid had a loving family at home, but he had been Rosemarie's best friend since the two were in day care, it was hard for me not to see him as my son, or for him not to see me as his second mother. "I'm so sorry. I tried to take care of her for you, but…"

I couldn't help the snort that escaped as I pulled him away from me.

"Erick, if my supernatural friends couldn't keep her safe, there no way you could've. Besides, this is my fault. I know." I told him.

"Alright, enough with the sappy reunions." Jacob said, getting down to business. "We have a daughter to save." I nodded, but couldn't help keeping an arm around Erick's shoulder. I missed him just as much as I had missed Rosemarie.

Leah gave me another pointed glare and grabbed his hand. What the hell was going on?

"Now, Seth, have they hurt her since we left?"

"Wait." I said before Seth could answer. "How would he know what they've done to her?"

"That's right." Jacob smirked a little. I had a feeling he was enjoying this a little too much. "Bella, meet our future son-in-law."

"You mean he…"

"Imprinted on her." Jacob finished. "Yeah, or maybe she imprinted on him. I don't know, but they fact that they are both wolves has some interesting side effects. He can feel what they are doing to her when they are hurting her. I don't know if it is a two way thing, but yeah."

I nodded, listening to what Jacob was saying while my mind was processing something else.

"So is that what's going on with these two?" I nodded toward Erick and Leah.

"Yes."

"Wow. I really missed a lot." I said stunned by this news. I was glad Leah finally found someone, but I didn't know how I felt about the fact that it was a boy I considered my son. I think it had something to do with the fact that it was Leah, because I was perfectly okay with hearing about Seth and Rosemarie. I always liked Seth more than his sister, though. I was pretty sure the feeling was mutual with Leah.

I shook my head. Imprints weren't the important thing right now. We needed to make sure that Rosemarie got out of this alive, so that she would have a future worth living with Seth.

"They hurt her a little after they tried to drown her." Seth answered Jacob's original question. If I had been human, my hear would've skipped a beat. They had already tried to kill my baby. Why? Edward wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him, stroking my hair. "But I think she's sleeping now. I feel nothing, but peace from the imprint."

"Good." Damien said. "That means my friends will be able to get through."

"What friends?" I asked, confused. I was suddenly panicked again. Did he lure us back here so the others could hurt without us being able to stop them?

"Relax, Bella." He said. "No one is going to hurt her for a few hours. My psychic gift is like, Alice's but it's not. Alice gets visions of the future based off of people's decisions. I, however, have, for all intents and purposes, imaginary friends. They come to me and tell me things. The lay out different possible future for any given situation and tell me what needs to be done to make certain things happen.

"I can also send them to others in the form of dreams. They can either be warnings, signs of comfort, or omens of death. It just depends on my intent. I have sent a couple to Rosemarie's dreams to let her know help is on the way."

I nodded.

"I don't know if she will believe what she's sees, but it was the best I could do."

"After seeing all this, she should have no problem believing them." I say.

"Alright, then, let's get down to business." Jacob pushed. "I don't want her there any longer than she needs to be."

"Right." Damien nodded. "I guess the best way to start is to say this. I'm sorry, Alice, but you really screwed up."

Alice who had been standing quietly in a corner by Jasper stepped forward. She crossed her arms and had the angry pixie look I missed so much on her face.

"What did I do?" She asked.

"You saw things you weren't supposed to see." Damien answered.

Alice opened her mouth to snap back, but Carlisle held up and hand to silence her.

"Perhaps you should start somewhere else." Carlisle stated. "We don't understand."

"Alright." Damien took a deep breath. "Rosemarie is special. I can't tell you how or why, but she is very special. She was always meant to be conceived."

"No." I shook my head. "What happened that night…"

"Was going to happen eventually. We don't have time to go into the details, but just know that conception was right." Damien argued. I nodded, but only because I wanted him to get on with it, so we could go save my baby. "You screwed up, too, Bella. You shouldn't have left."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It was always Rosemarie's destiny to become a wolf, and taking her away from Forks messed that up. Destiny needed some way to get her back to Forks. Alice tried, but it never worked for her, because you were always so stubborn. Destiny had to throw the Volturi at you.

"I don't understand." I said.

"The only way you were ever going to let Rosemarie go to Forks was if you were no longer around to take care of her. You'd want to send her to someone who could care for, and where she would eventually find out about her heritage. That's why the Volturi finally found you, because it was the only way to get your daughter where she needed to be."

"So how did I mess up?" Alice asked.

"This is where it gets messy. If Bella had stayed in Forks with Rosemarie, she would've become a vampire and Rosemarie would've become a wolf, but because she left and refused to come back, things changed. It became her destiny to die at the hands of the Volturi, so Rosemarie could meet her destiny.

"I made sure the Aro had acquired Anita before he went after Bella, so you wouldn't see what was happening. I knew if you did, you would come to her rescue, but that was no longer an option, not if Rosemarie was going to live. I hated counted on the strength of your bond, though, and when I was told you guys were coming. I had to think fast. I couldn't let her be rescued.

"I told Aro the best way to deal with the situation was to make Bella forget everything, change her into a vampire, and turn her against you guys. I thought that would be enough to keep you away, but again, I underestimated the bond of family. Rosemarie came to try to save Bella. She made a stupid deal that Aro manipulated."

"What kind of deal?" I asked.

"It's not important. What is important is what happens next." Damien answered. "And it is going to be hard, and none of you are going to like it."

"What needs to happen next?" Jacob asked. I could see that he was just as tense and afraid as I was. True, this whole situation was difficult on the others, but it was worse on Jacob and I. We were Rosemarie's parents? Everyone else was just random relatives. I reached out and took Jacob's hand squeezing it tightly in mine.

"I know all of you wanna fight for her, but that's not gonna work. If you try to fight, you will all die, and Rosemarie will be stuck there for the rest of her life. That cannot happen." Damien explained.

"So what do we do?" Rosalie asked.

"This whole thing with Bella and your family has been about punishment for Aro." Damien said sitting down on the only open spot on the bed. "He wants all of you to pay for your disobedience, and keeping Rosemarie as his pet is the perfect way to make you do that. It hurts all of you to know that she is in his hands.

"What you need to do is offer him something that would hurt everyone just as much if not more for him to have and probably kill."

"And what's that?" Edward growled, but his grip tightened on my waist. I was pretty sure everyone in that room new what he was talking about, but no one wanted to believe it.

Damien sighed and looked directly at me.

"At this point Bella, you are going to have to choose between your life and your daughter's."

"No, there's no choice, there." I said. "There's only you telling me when and where to make the offer."

**EDWARD**

"No." I growled, pulling Bella behind me.

I had remained calm listening to everything Damien had to say about what Bella and Rosemarie, but I wasn't going to stand back and let this happen. Yes, I wanted to get Rosemarie away from them as badly as everyone else, but not at the expense of losing Bella. I had already lost three times. I wasn't going to let it happen, again.

"We'll find another way." I said.

"There is no other way." Damien said.

"Bullshit." I growled at him. "There's always another way."

"I don't think there is this time, Edward." Bella whispered from behind me. "If we fight, we all die. A trade is the best way to insure we only lose one of us."

I turned to her grasping both her hands in mind.

"You don't understand, Bella." I whispered. "In the last two decades, I've lost you three times. I finally have you back, and you want me to just let you walk away. You want me to let them kill you, and take you away from me forever."

"If it's the only way I can save my daughter, then yes." She responded. "She's in this mess because of me. I have to do what I can to get her out of it."

"And do you really think that she wants to get out of it without having her mother to come home to." I asked.

"No, but she has plenty of other family members to make up for it."

"But none of them are her mother."

"She's had her mother for sixteen years: it's time she gets to know her father."

"That's a crap answer."

"I don't know what else to tell you, to make you understand." She pulled her hands out of mine and grabbed my face between them. "If it was anything, Edward, I would exhaust all of my options before I chose death. I would do everything in my power to keep you from losing me again, but this is my daughter. I can't sit around and wait for better options to come. I have to do what is best for her right now. I have to get her out of there, no matter what the cost. I'm sorry, but I have to do this, whether or not you want me to. Don't make it any harder than it already is."

I stared at her for the longest time. All the joy had I felt the moment she kissed me had slowly fizzled out. It was replaced by a disappointment so great, I couldn't breathe. For a millisecond, I believed that we would all survive this and be able to be the family we should've been all those years ago. I believed we could've found a way to make it work, but Damien had ruined it all with just one little speech. What was I supposed to do? Tell her not to save her daughter. Or make her take a risk that could end with all of us getting killed and Rosemarie being screwed. No, I couldn't do any of those things. I had to let her go, even if it's the hardest thing I've had to do.

"Why couldn't you have just stayed?" I growled, pulling her closer to me. "Why couldn't you have asked me for forgiveness? I would've given it to you. I would've helped you and Jacob raise your baby. I would've loved her as much as the two of you did. We could've been happy and together."

"I know." She said back. "But I would've never been able to forgive myself. That was the problem. I would've never been able to live that life, because I couldn't have forgiven myself for hurting either of you. This is the path I've chosen, and I have to accept the consequences. I'm just sorry you have to accept them too."

"If this was any other situation, I would find a way to stop you from doing this." I told her. "But I know it is your daughter, and I won't get in the way, no matter how badly I want to."

"Thank you."

I brought my lips crashing down on hers and pulled her body tightly to mine. There'd be time for goodbyes later, but I needed her to know how much I loved her. I had to show her how much it was killing me to let her go.

**ARO**

"What's this about, Felix?" I asked no bothering to hide my aggravation. My brothers and I were just about to pull out our new toy and play some more. I was anxious for her to get her phasing under control. I wanted to know if she was as fun in bed as her mother was. Felix had delayed by barging in a telling us it was important that he speaking with us. It had better be worth it, or I was going to let Jane loose on him for a bit. "And where's Bella?"

"Well, that's what this is about." Felix said. He voice shook slightly and I knew I wasn't going to like whatever it was that he was going to say. "Bella and Damien."

"What about them?" I asked. I wasn't too worried about whatever it was. Bella was completely mine to control. She had no memory of her former life, and I was currently keeping the only person who could bring her memory back as my prisoner. Bella was mine to control. And Damien, well, Damien had a wife and child he wanted to protect. At least, I hoped he though they were still alive.

"Perhaps you'd like to watch?" Felix walked to me with his hand extended. I sighed, but took it. My gift made this part so much easier. I could see everything that played out without having to worry about context.

I closed my eyes and focused on his thoughts. The first image that came to me was Bella and Felix arguing in the street, then Bella took off. She disappeared into the crowd before Felix could catch up. The next images were of him searching the streets of Volterra with no sign of Bella. When he finally found her, she was alone in under the clock tower, where she had stopped Edward from making a big mistake.

She was surrounded by Edward, his coven, and the wolves and she was being friendly with all of them. It was clear she had gotten her memories back and they were discussing how to save Rosemarie. That was when Damien stepped out of the shadows and offered help. The talked for a few minutes, then headed back to the hotel they were staying at.

Felix came straight to me after that. I realized his hand trying to contain my anger. I had known there was a possibility this would happen, but I honestly didn't think her relationship with Edward was strong enough to bring her memories back, especially after the seeds of doubt we planted in her mind.

"This is unexpected, but manageable." I said. "We don't know what they are planning, but they are no match for us. Get everyone together and fill them in. Tell them they need to be ready for anything. And have Jane get our new pet ready. I will use her as leverage if I have to."

"What's going on?" Caius asked from his spot on my left. I could hear the annoyance in his voice that my gift often brings.

"It seems, brothers, that we have been betrayed by Damien and Bella. And we need to prepare for a fight."


	28. Here is Gone

**A/N: Okay guys, pull out the tissues. This is going to be a crying chapter. As I said, this story is headed toward its end. This is the second to last chapter. I'm kind of really excited about this. Let me know what you think. **

**BELLA**

"When and where, Damien?" I asked when Edward finally released me.

It was killing me to know that after early seventeen years of being apart, this was the only reunion we would get, so I had a pretty good idea of what Edward must be feeling at the moment. I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around him and never leave his side again. If it had been any other situation, I would've chosen to fight and risk everything, just so I wouldn't have to leave Edward, again. My daughter's life and safety trumped everything, though. It always had.

I wouldn't allow her to continue to suffer, not when giving me life could stop it. Besides, Rosemarie was in this position because of my choices and my lies. The only thing she was guilty of was loving her mother, and I would not allow her to be punished for that.

I was sorry that my decision was hurting Edward and everyone I cared about, but I couldn't allow myself to think about that. Not when my daughter's life was in danger.

"Aro's throne room and whenever you are ready." Damien answered. The sadness in his tone told me that he was terribly sorry this had to happen. "As long as you take Rosemarie's place, everything for her future will be back on course. It doesn't matter when it happens, as long as it happens."

"And what do I need to do?" I asked. The sooner we finished this, the better. I didn't want Rosemarie trapped with those monsters any longer than she had to be. More importantly, I didn't want to deal with a long goodbye that both my families would insist upon.

"We will talk about that later." Damien said. "I know you don't want to, but they have a right to say goodbye, Bella. They didn't get that the first time you left, and you won't be coming back this time. Let them say it, then we will talk tactics."

I swallowed hard but nodded. He was right. I had denied them this all those years ago because I had let my guilt get the best of me. Besides, somewhere deep down, I always knew I would be back. This time, I wouldn't be returning, no matter what Aro decided to do to me. I would just have to grit my teeth and allow them to say the goodbyes that I didn't want to hear.

"I'll give you guys some privacy." Damien walked out the door. "I need to consult with my friends for a moment." He walked out leaving me alone to face my families' sad smiles.

"Do you really have to do this, Ms. Swan?" Erick asked. He had tears rolling down his cheeks as Leah clung to his hand.

"Yes, Erick, I do." I sighed wishing I could cry. "It's the only way to get Rosemarie out of there, but I need you to help take care of her. I need you to keep her out of trouble." I smiled a little at the memories of Rosemarie and Erick growing up together. "You were always better at it than I was. I imagine the same will be true for her father."

"Don't worry. You and Rosemarie have always been my family, and I would go anywhere for the two of you. Besides, my family," He held up the hand that was clutching Leah's. "Is here now, too. I'm not going anywhere, and I will always take care of Rosemarie."

I looked at Leah with what I hoped were apologetic and pleading eyes. "Permission to hug?" I asked.

"Granted." She answered. Her tone was only slightly less hostile than it had been the first time she spoke to me. Perhaps she was as cold-hearted as I always believed.

Erick released her hand and wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tightly. I squeezed him back as tightly as I could without hurting him.

"I've always considered you to a second mom." He said. "And I love you and will miss you."

"I love you too, Erick." I whispered back. We pulled away from each other, and I flashed Leah a grateful smile as she wrapped her arms around a now sobbing Erick.

"I'm sorry it has come to this Bella." Alice said hugging me from behind. "If I had any idea this would happen, I would've done more to convince you to stay. I'm so sorry."

I turned to Alice and wrapped my arms around her squeezing her so tightly I would've broken bones if she was a human. "It's not anyone's fault but mine, Alice. It was my stupid choices that brought us here. No one else's. I'm going to make up for it now. I'm just sorry I have to hurt all of you in the process."

Alice and I hugged for a long time before she released me to the hands of Rosalie. My goodbye with Rosalie was much more heartfelt than I expected it to be. I figured it had something to do with the way I was handling this situation as a mother, but I didn't know. I didn't think I could handle asking her about why.

The rest of the goodbyes were just as painful as I thought they would be, and all I could think about was how I wasted what could've been the happiest year of my life stuck in a pit of sorrow and guilt. If I could've just forgiven myself for what happened with Jacob that night, I could've raised my baby with both men I loved and been happy. Now, all I could do was walk away from all of them with thoughts of what could've been, and I hated it.

**JACOB**

I watched as one by one Bella's family and friends said their goodbyes to her thinking about what could've been. If only she had enough sense to see that Edward and I loved her enough to work out what had happened, we wouldn't be here. If she hadn't let her guilt consume her, we would all be in Forks, or wherever the Cullens had decided to live, smiling and laughing at something the other said.

I would've spent the last sixteen years raising my daughter without ever having contemplated death. There'd be no antidepressants or worried glances from Sam. Everything would've been completely normal and the world would've continued turning.

If Bella had stayed in Forks, we wouldn't be sitting here having to choose between Bella's life and Rosemarie's life. I wouldn't have tears streaming down my face, or a horrible feeling of guilt in my stomach. Was it wrong that only part of me wanted Bella to sacrifice herself for our daughter? Yes, I loved Rosemarie with everything in me, but I loved Bella just as much. Why did I have to lose one to save the other? It wasn't right or fair.

Then again, Bella's decision to leave Forks the morning after we had sex is what finally taught me the life wasn't right or fair. I just didn't think that Edward, Bella, and I should have to go through more pain than we already had. I mean, we had lost Bella three times in the last two decades. Didn't we deserve some kind of happily ever after?

I had been so lost in my own misery I hadn't noticed the room clearing out as everyone had their last moments with Bella. Perhaps they intended to Bella privacy as she said her goodbyes to Edward and I. Or maybe they just couldn't stand to be in the room with her any longer. I supposed it didn't matter, as long as they didn't see the blubbering mess I was about to become.

Finally, Bella hugged Seth making him promise to take care of her baby before he walked out the door wiping his eyes and nose on the sleeve of his shirt. Bella, Edward, and I were alone after that. I took a deep breath to prepare myself for the moment that I had been dreading for the last hour.

"Jacob," Bella whispered, coming over to where I sat on one of the beds. She took both of my hands in hers and knelt down so she was on my level. "I can't tell you how sorry I am for keeping your daughter from you. By the time I found out, I had convinced myself that you wouldn't want anything more to do with me after I left. It was easier that way, I guess. After she was born though, I thought that you deserved to know, and I kept telling myself that I was going to call or visit. I always talked myself out of it, though. I didn't think you needed the extra burden in your life. I had already hurt you enough."

"I could never consider that beautiful, wonderful girl a burden, Bella." I whispered. I wanted to be angry with her for having the audacity to think that, but I didn't want our last conversation to be angry words, so I swallowed down my anger and just went for pure love. "I loved her from the moment she showed up in my kitchen a week ago. It didn't matter that I had missed sixteen years of her life. She was there, and I loved her. And I will continue to love her for the rest of my life."

"I know you will. That's why I sent her to you in the end." Bella explained. "I knew she would need when I was gone, especially when Jane and the others showed up at my door. They were her first exposure to vampires and I knew it would only be a matter of time before the fever set in. I needed to make sure she was with you when it happened."

"I know." I said, remembering the horror of Rosemarie's first transformation.

I remember the helpless feeling of not being able to do anything but talk to her. I remembered the fear of losing her before we ever really had a chance to get to know each other, and I was grateful for Bella's decision. If she hadn't sent Rosemarie to me, Rosemarie probably wouldn't have lived through that first transformation. The beast would've torn her apart. I didn't tell Bella about any of that, though. She didn't need to think about her daughter like that. She needed to die remembering the good times they had together.

"I wish you could've seen her as a wolf." I finally said. "She's beautiful."

"Tell me about her. What does look like?" Bella asked. I could hear her voice cracking and imagined she'd be crying if she could. I removed one hand from hers and reached up to wipe a few tears from my eyes. I was crying enough for the both of us really.

"She has the prettiest white coat with flecks of gray in it." I said pulling the picture of Rosemarie's wolf form into my mind. "She has blue eyes with little patches of gray fur surrounding them. Her paws are gray patched as is her muzzle."

"She sounds beautiful." Bella responded. I noticed that her eyes were closed. Was she trying to picture our little girl as a wolf?

"She is. I wish you could see her."

"Me too." She opened her eyes, and I noticed there was an almost pleading look to them. "Take care of her, Jake, please? I don't let anything bad happen to her. She doesn't deserve anymore pain."

"Don't worry. Between Seth, me, and the rest of the pack, she's in good hands." I told Bella as I stroked her cheek. "Nothing bad is going to happen to her."

"I love you, Jake." She said. "I'm sorry it could never be as much as you wanted, but I do love you. I always will."

"I know." I told her, grabbing her by the chin and pulling her closer to me. "And I love you too." I then brought my lips crashing down on hers, not caring if the bloodsucker was watching. This was the only goodbye she and I were going to get and I needed to show her how much I loved her, and that I forgave her for anything. This was the best way I could do it.

She kissed me back with very little hesitance and I remember that day on the mountain just before I went to face the newborns. I may have manipulated her into it, but it was the best moment of my life and I had never regretted it. If it hadn't been for the fact that this kiss was goodbye, it would've been just as amazing.

I felt my heart clench as she pulled away from me biting her lip. I couldn't help but shake my head at the look of guilt on her face. Even when she was headed to her death, she couldn't help but feel guilty for being unable to choose between the two of us.

I supposed that was Bella until the very end. Everyone else's emotions were always more important than hers. God, I would miss that.

I wiped at the tears that were flowing down my cheeks as she turned away from me. I didn't think I could handle watching her say goodbye to the bloodsucker, so I walked out the door shutting it quietly behind me.

**EDWARD**

I was surprised to find that I felt no negative emotions as I watched Jacob say goodbye to Bella. Sure, I was sad, but that was more because of the fact that I was going to be losing her after finally getting her back. That thought killed me more than watching the two of them say an intimate goodbye.

They were Rosemarie's parents after all. They had a much bigger connection than ever before, and I knew that meant they needed each other now more than ever. Besides, I had always known Bella loved me more than she loved Jacob, and somehow, that knowledge was enough to keep me from wanting to kill Jacob, even when he decided to kiss her as if I wasn't in the room.

I mostly let that go because it was his last chance to do something like that, and I wasn't going to take it from him. Besides, I had to prepare myself for the goodbye that I knew was coming. I hated the idea of saying goodbye to her, after spending so much time apart, but I knew there was no way to talk her out of making this decisions. I couldn't ask her not to save her daughter just so she and I could stay together.

Needless to say, I was nowhere near ready when she turned to me and Jacob left us to have our epic goodbye.

"So there's no chance of talking you out of this?" I said half hoping for her to change her mind.

"Not this time, Edward. I'm sorry." She whispered, putting her arms around me and resting her head on my chest. "If it was anyone other than my daughter…"

"I know." I put my arms around her and held her close to me. "I just wish…"

"We had more time together." She cut me off this time. "I know, so do I, and I know it's my fault that we don't."

"You did what you thought was best at the time." I told her. As much as I hated it, I firmly believed that. As stubborn as Bella was, she never did anything unless she thought she had good reason for it. Seventeen years ago, she believed taking herself out of the equation would be best for everyone, so that's what she did. She was wrong, but she did it because she thought she was right. "I can't fault you for that."

"That's a crap answer and you know it." She whispered. "I screwed up everyone's lives, including my daughter's when I left."

"Maybe, but you had good intentions, Bella." I pressed. "That's what matters."

She shook her head against my chest, and I knew it would be useless to push the subject. She refused to believe what I had to say, and repeating myself would do no good. We would simply spend our last moments alone fighting, and I didn't want that. I wanted to remember the good moments.

"Let's just not talk about it, okay?" Bella said. "Just hold me, and love me."

"Okay." I told her and kissed the top of her head. I pulled her closer and she snuggled herself deeper into me. God, how I had missed this, and now I was supposed to give it up again. I didn't know if I could.

"Bella, I love you more than anything in this world, and I would do anything for you." I told her. "If I could take your place in this, I would in a heartbeat."

"I know, but I have to be the one to pay for my mistakes, no one else." She answered. "And I have never stopped loving you. God, help me, I tried, but I couldn't. You and Jacob made my life worth living again, and I've never been able to forget that, or move on from it. I hope you will be able to."

I opened my mouth to tell her I doubted it, but I knock on the door cut me off. Taking Bella's hand in mine, I opened the door to find Damien standing there looking panicked.

"I'm sorry to cut things short, but we don't have as much time as I thought. Felix saw us in the alley and told Aro. He is preparing to fight and use Rosemarie as leverage. We need to move, now."

**ROSEMARIE**

"Wakey, wakey, little puppy." Jane's voice and a sharp pain in my scalp pulled me out of the beautiful black oblivion of sleep. I opened my eyes to see Jane standing above me yanking on my hair. "Get up." She growled when she realized I was awake. "You're families are coming and Aro wants you to be ready.

My body was still throbbing from the torture it was put through earlier that afternoon, but I didn't want to give Jane a reason to hurt me anymore, so I crawled off the mattress as quickly as possible.

Jane walked over to a spot on the wall I was too exhausted to notice earlier. On it was an assortment of whips and chains. If I wasn't so worried about what was going to happen when my families arrived, I would've been scared of what she pulled off that wall. As it was, I couldn't make myself care. A fight over me was about to begin, and it was one that could get my loved ones killed. That took precedence over everything else.

However, Jane simply grabbed a chain from the wall with a metal collar attached to it. She clamped it around my neck.

"Just so you don't get any ideas." She said yanking on the chain which I assumed meant she wanted me to follow her. "And don't even think about trying to phase. I'll have you on your back before you can go two feet."

I bit back a snappy retort as I followed her down the hall. The sooner we got to Aro the sooner I could figure out what was going on. We walked down the same long hallway that led to the room where the tortured me before. I didn't think they would want to set a fight up in that close of quarters, but my heart skipped a beat anyway. I never wanted to go back in that room again.

Thankfully, Jane led me into the large circular room where I first met Aro and his brothers and it was like de-ja-vu. Vampires were gathered in a large circle around the room, and I felt my stomach churn as the sickeningly sweet scent of them hit my nose. My mind screamed at me to transform so I could defend myself, but my body refused to listen. It was too scared of the pain Jane would bring if I even started to tremble a little.

"Ahh, our lovely pet has arrived." Aro said with his sadistic smile. I cringed as Jane led me toward him. "I bet you are wondering why Jane brought you here."

I already knew why Jane brought me here, but I knew the answer Aro wanted me to give, and I was too scared to fight.

"Yes, Master. I am wondering why Miss Jane brought me here."

"Well, it appears that your family is coming to your rescue, after all. And we need to prepare for that." Aro answered, the sadistic smile never leaving his face.

"And how exactly are we going to prepare for that Master?" I asked.

"Well, first, I have a confession to make. A very important confession." He said. "You see, I kind of deceived you when we made our deal earlier."

My heart rate picked up and I resisted the urge to glare at him. What did he mean he deceived me?

"What do you mean?" I asked. 

"Well, you see, my dear friend, Stacy," He gestured to someone in the circle, and the girl who brought my mother in earlier stepped forward. "Is a unique vampire with a special talent." He turned to Stacy. "Why don't you show her m'dear?"

Anger rose in me as I watched Stacy transform into a carbon copy of my mother. He face broke into a sadistic grin as she stared at me.

"You bastard!" I yelled as I wished my body would listen to my mind. I needed to transform and kill this man in front of me, but my body was too afraid of the pain. "That makes our deal void!"

"Maybe, but considering you're the one in shackles, it doesn't matter, does it?"

His smirk is what finally caused the beast to burst out. I didn't care about what Jane would do anymore. I just wanted Aro to suffer for what he did to me. Unfortunately, Jane made good on her promise. Pain shot through my entire body before I could move two feet.

I fell backwards whimpering as my wolf body spasmed through the pain. Before I knew it, I was human again and Aro was standing above me with a strong foot pressing against my head.

"Now, that you've been put back in your place," He said pressing a little harder. "This is what is gonna happen next."

**BELLA**

"Are you sure about this?" Edward asked as we were standing in front of the drain that would lead us to Aro and my daughter.

We had left the hotel the second Damien told us we didn't have much time. It was decided that only Edward, Damien, Jacob, and I would go down this time. Damien believed it would look better if we didn't have an army behind us. Aro would be more likely to listen if we weren't hostile about it. Damien had explained exactly what needed to be done as we walked to the alley.

"No, but I have to save Rosemarie." I said. "That's all that matters right now." Edward's only response was a comforting hand on my shoulder. I sighed and reached up to grab it. "I just need you both to promise that you will take Rosemarie and leave. Go back to Forks and move on with your lives. Finish raising her, and don't return for revenge. Promise that she won't forget."

"The pack will make sure that she is taken care of her, Bella." Jacob answered taking my hand. "We will make sure she has a long a happy life, and we won't come back unless the Volturi give us a reason to. I promise."

"Thank you."

"And my family and I will continue to give Rosemarie the money Alice promised, every month." Edward told me squeezing my shoulder. "And if she needs anything that Jacob and the pack can't provide, we will make sure she gets it. We won't abandon her just because you aren't with us."

I nodded and took a deep breath.

"Let's get this over with then." I sighed.

Edward went down the drain first followed by me then Jacob and Damien. We walked the long path to the Volturi's throne room in silence Edward kept a tight arm around my waist while Jacob clung to my hand as if for dear life.

When we finally reached the circular throne room, I took another deep breath as we stepped into the room and found ourselves surrounded by vampires. Caius, Aro, and Marcus were standing in front of their thrones. Marcus had the same bored look I had come to associate with him on his face, Aro looked like Christmas had come early, and Caius had the same sadistic smile as always plastered across his face.

I hissed when I saw Demetri next to them. He was holding a naked and bruised Rosemarie in his arms. One arm was around her waist pinning her arms to her side while the other hand was holding her hair and pulling her head to the side giving him better exposure to her neck.

"Easy, Bella." Damien whispered. I could feel Jacob's hand trembling in mine. Perhaps we should've made him stay behind.

"When Felix told me what had happened, I thought for sure you'd be bringing an army to try to kill us." Aro asked sounding amused and a little wary. "So why are there only four of you?"

"We haven't come to fight." I said in a shaking voice. I had memorized the words Damien told me to say, and he been repeating them over and over in my head. "We've come to negotiate the freedom of my daughter.

Aro considered this for a moment looking me up and down.

"Negotiation is out of the question." He finally answered. "You and the Cullens need to be punished for the law you broke, and for thinking you could get with it. Keeping your daughter as my prisoner punishes all of you for that."

"I understand that, but I ask for a moment to make a case for my daughter."

Again Aro considered, but finally nodded. "Two minutes."

"Rosemarie Swan is guilty of nothing except loving her mother enough to die for her. She has not broken any vampire laws." I said just as Damien told me. "And as a werewolf, she is part of the supernatural world, and keeping the existence of vampires a secret benefits her race as much as ours, she is not a liability, either. Seeing as she is neither guilty nor a danger to the vampire race, why should she be punished for what her mother and stepfather have done. It hardly seems right? What would the other vampires think once they heard about this? Do you really want to risk them turning on you?"

I finished and gave Aro a moment to consider my words. Damien was confident the threat of Aro losing his powers would be enough to break him, but I wasn't so sure. I held my breath and prayed it would work.

"I see your point, but if I let her go, then you and the Cullens get away unpunished." Aro finally said. "I can't let the others hear about that, can I?"

"Of course not, that is why I am offering a trade." I said as calmly as I could. "I will stay with you forever and allow you to do with me what you want: rape me, kill me, make me do your bidding, whatever you want. I will be yours forever, if you let her go back to Forks with her father."

"No, mom." Rosemarie yelled.

"Shut up." Demetri growled yanking on her hair a little harder. I suppressed a growl as her whimper echoed through the room.

"Do we have a deal?" I asked stepping away from Edward and Jacob and holding my hand out to Aro.

He stood there looking between me and my hand for what seemed like forever, before he finally came to a decision.

"On one condition, these four," He pointed to Edward, Jacob, Damien, and Rosemarie in turn. "Have to stand here and watch you die. It's really the only way to drive the point home."

Damien had privately told me this was a possibility, and I hated the idea, but if it meant Rosemarie would live, I would do it.

"Done." I said, stepping closer to Aro. He shook my hand and yanked me closer. He turned me around and grabbed me around the waist, pinning my arms to my side.

"Let the puppy go." He ordered Demetri. Demetri shoved Rosemarie away from him. She stumbled a little before running toward me.

"Mom, please don't do this." She cried tears streaming down her face. "I can't lose you, again."

"I'm sorry baby." I whispered wishing I could gather her in my arms, but Aro's hold on my hands wouldn't allow it. "Go to your father and be strong over the next few minutes. Then go back to Forks and live your life."

"No." She shook her head. "Not without you." Tears were streaming down her as she reached for me. Aro pulled me away from her.

"A goodbye was not part of the deal." He said, and I could imagine the smirk on his face.

"Please." Rosemarie cried reaching for me.

"Jacob, grab her before she gets herself hurt." I cried.

Jacob went to Rosemarie and wrapped his jacket around her naked body. He then wrapped his arms around her and began pulling her away from me. She continued to fight and beg so hard, Edward had to come help Jacob to subdue her. It broke my heart so much that I couldn't watch. I closed my eyes and waited for Aro to end it.

**ALICE**

I pulled out of the graphic and heartbreaking vision before Aro had a chance to actually hurt Bella. I didn't think that I would be able to handle watching it, even if it was just in a vision. Bella was my best friend and sister. I couldn't stand the idea of watching her die.

I stood there completely frozen just staring at the two addressed envelopes that Bella was trying to hand me. I didn't know where that vision had come from nor how I could've seen any part of it, considering how closely the wolves were involved, but it didn't matter. What matter was that I had seen it, and I knew whether or not it would actually happen was hinged on this moment.

"Alice, what's wrong?" Bella asked in a hoarse voice. She had been crying most of the morning as she explained what she was going to do, and asked me for the favor that would kill me brother. The letters to shook in her hands, but I found myself unable to take them.

"Don't do this, Bella." I said in barely above a whisper. "Don't leave."

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? I hope you all understand what just happened. This is the end of What Hurts the Most, but never fear: the sequel, Just Give Me a Reason will be up soon. I am very excited about it and can't wait to start writing it. **


	29. Sequel!

**A/N: For anyone who was disappointed about the way I ended What Hurts the Most, you can stop being angry with me. Upon thinking about it, I have decided to do a sequel. It will be called: Just Give Me a Reason, and it will include Bella's decision on whether or not to stay in Forks, the outcome of that decision, and a few other surprises. We may even see more of the Volturi and Damien, but you will just have to read Just Give Me a Reason to find out everything. **


	30. AN: Hurry Home

**A/N: This is a long overdue update, but I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and do this recently. I'm happy to announce that and I will be releasing our first original book in the first week of July! We have been working really hard with writing the second book and publishing the first one. It is why I haven't been updating like I used to. I'm still working on fan fiction when I can, but not as often as I used to. **

**Anyway, the book is called Hurry Home and it will be part of the Band of Misfits Series. It is an amazing supernatural series that deals with the importance of love, friendship, family, and being human. It will be released in early July (no definite date yet). For more information on the book, series, and authors you can visit and like our facebook page: A Band of Misfits Series and visit our website: **

**I can't wait to see what you guys think of our amazing book and series. **


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